The Princess and The Tiger
by Millie M. Banshee
Summary: Inoue Orihime is a woman working a dead in job. Kurosaki Ichigo is the homeless man she's in love with. After a jaguar and a tiger escape the local zoo, Ichigo is severely mauled by one of the big cats. Worried for him Orihime has Ichigo move in with her. However, she learns too late that the man living with her is not her beloved but something else. Something powerful.
1. Tiger

The Princess and the Tiger

Chapter 1

Tiger

(A/N I just thought of this idea and sat on it for a few hours. I'm doing this to get my mind off of other things and try to clear my head out. Basically, as weird as it may sound, this a story dump. I just need to get this out of my head and not think about it anymore once it's on paper, so to speak. I'm hoping to make it only three chapters but they are going to be long chapters so if you don't like excessively long chapters, eh, you might not be able to sit through these. Just saying. I've sat through a few chapters that seemed to go on forever myself and I usually got up and left several times because my attention span just wasn't there. Anyway, enough of me rattling on.)

Sum: Magic and mystery still exists the modern world, however, most humans no longer see or believe in the fantastic and the wondrous. Inoue Orihime, a young woman working a dead end job has fallen in love with Kurosaki Ichigo, a homeless man. She buys him food and clothes as he tries to get back on his own two feet. But when a rare tiger and a jaguar escape their holding pens at the new zoo things change forever. Ichigo get's mauled by one of the big cats the night of their escape. Injured and no where else to go Orihime offers him a place to stay with her. However, over time Orihime discovers that the man she invited into him home is not her beloved but something else. Something powerful.

 **SOUNDS/sounds**

 _Thoughts_

* * *

A young woman yawned as she stepped out of her small apartment and locked the door. Her long tawny hair was pulled back into a ponytail and she was dressed a cheap uniform. It was forest green with short yellow sleeves and black slacks. Her name tag reading Inoue Orihime was pinned onto the left breast pocket. The sun hadn't even shown its first rays yet as she walked into streets. She adjusted her purse and a large lunchbox on her shoulder as hurried her way over to a small convince store about three blocks down.

She pulled out her keys and unlocked doors. She wasn't fond of being the key holder and having to get up so early but it had to be done. She turned on the lights in the small store and quickly got to work making the morning coffee, fixing the drawer for the register, among other things. She still had about 15 minutes to kill like she did most mornings. She walked over to the coffee pot and poured the dark, hot liquid into a small foam cup. She capped the cup and then grabbed a couple packs of sugar and cream.

She then snatched the large lunchbox from behind the counter and walked around to the back of the store. She opened the backdoor and walked out and spotted the daily visitor, sitting in his usually place on an old wood bench. The man was her age, he was fairly tall, and well built. His clothes weren't the best but they could have been worse given his living conditions. It looked like he hadn't bathed in a few weeks as well. His orange hair was a little matted and skin covered in dirt smudges. His white sneakers were worn but intact. He smiled at her as she walked over to him and handed him the cup of coffee. She then opened her lunchbox and sat down a couple of sandwiches on his grass stained jeans.

"You know you don't have to do this every morning for me," he said but she just smiled.

"I know, I just like doing it," she answered, sitting down next him. "How's the job hunting going?"

"Eh," he shrugged, picking up one of the sandwiches and unwrapped it. "I've put in a few applications but… They get one look at me… Not so good."

"I'd get you on here but the owner isn't too fond of you especially after… You know," she sighed. "You best eat that, Ichigo! The owner will be here shortly. He won't like you hanging around the back."

"I know, I'll be gone shortly," he said, opening the coffee and put in the cream and sugar. "I'm really surprised you're sticking your neck out or for me. I mean we didn't even hang out in high school."

"Yeah, I know, right? Other than Tatsuki and Uryu you're the only other person I've really kept up with from high school," she said, stretching her arms into the air. "You know if you ever need anything you just ask me. If you want you can come over and get a bath. Maybe get some of your clothes washed too. That might help."

"Yeah, it would but I already feel like I'm imposing on you as it is with you giving me food," he stated, looking down at his clothes. "I just can't. It also won't look right. I mean you live alone after all."

"I'm not worried about that. You're my friend," she said, patting him on the shoulder as she stood. "I've got to go open the door and turn on the sign. I'll meet you at our usual place after my shift."

"I'll be there," he replied as she turned and walked back inside the store.

She walked to the front, flipped on the neon sign, and unlatched the deadbolt on the door. She walked back around the counter and turned on the small radio. It would be dead for while still. She yawned again and turned up the volume, listening to the morning news.

"… **4 car pileup. Traffic is slow and police are asking people to look for alternate routes. Well, it seems things are going smoothly for the new Karakura Zoo due to open next weekend. They are starting to bring in the animals. Some exhibits unfortunately won't be up just yet as planned. A few animals still remain in quarantine. Two such animals are the rare South China Tiger and an albino Jaguar from South America. Both still remain in holding until everything has cleared. They took the longest to arrive. However, the other big cat attractions should be opened to the public. Sadly enough the South China Tiger is one of the rarest tigers left in the world. It is one of the smallest tigers but is said be the most vibrant shade of orange. Conservationists are hoping to draw more awareness about these endangered big cats. A fund for the South China Tigers will start at the zoo when the attraction opens. Now for the weather. It's going to be partly-sunny today and temperatures will reach up into…"**

"I'd like to go to the zoo when it opens but Uryu and Tatsuki are to rather busy on the weekends," Orihime pouted a bit. "I wouldn't mind working there… Ah, maybe I should see if Kurosaki-kun can't get job doing something there. That would be so cool!"

"Inoue, you forgot to sweep around the entrance again," the owner said as he stood in the door.

"Huh? Oh, I'm sorry," she said, quickly reaching for the broom in the corner. "I'll get right on that!"

She quickly walked around the counter and picked up the welcome mat and to shake it out. She then swept the dirt that had collected under the mat out the door. She finished cleaning the sidewalk and put the mat back down just inside the door. The owner was a stickler for such things. He walked around the shop to make sure everything was in order.

He then went back to his office to work on stock and finances. She let out a sigh and put the broom back. This was going to be a long day when owner was there. She couldn't wait to get off work and meet Ichigo again at the small café. She would bring up the idea to him about working at the zoo then.

* * *

Orihime walked down the sidewalk and towards the café. She was happy to get out of there. The owner was a jerk at times. Rather two faced but right now she had nowhere else to work. She'd put up with it for now. She too was looking for a better job. She rounded the corner to see her friend, sitting on the bench he usually occupies. She waved at him, getting his attention.

"Ah, Orihime," he waved back, standing up and she hurried towards. "You're a little late. Did that ass keep you over?"

"Yeah, but it's okay. You wanna eat here today or somewhere else?" Orihime said, looking up at him. "I just remembered something before I left the store. Isn't today your birthday?"

He looked at her a little shocked and rubbed the back of his head. Well, she was close.

"Actually it was yesterday on the 15th," he answered and she pouted.

"Why didn't you say something?" she snapped, shaking a finger at him and he grinned, sheepishly. "Come on! I'll treat you to somewhere nice, Ichigo."

"Orihime, you don't have to that! You don't have much money as it is," he protested but she grabbed his hand and pulled.

"I can splurge once and awhile. I'm not that damn broke," she stated, pulling him down the sidewalk. "C'mon, c'mon! It'll be fun!"

She pulled him on down the busy sidewalk to a slightly nicer restaurant than average. He felt a bit weird walking in as dirty as he was. His clothes didn't look the best and felt out of place here. He felt bad about Orihime taking him here. He understood that she wanted to do something nice for him but he couldn't shake the feeling he was taking advantage for her. It was his own fault he ended up in this mess and he didn't like people trying to help him. If he hadn't picked that fight with his father he might still have a place to live.

Honestly, if he asked and apologized he would very easily be welcomed back into his father's home but his pride wouldn't let him. He knew he made a mistake and he was going to fix it on his own. However, it was taking longer to fix than he had planned. He'd been out on his own now for nearly 3 years. He hopped from friend's house to friend's house for a year or so trying to get his footing but that clearly never happened. He spent another two years in and out of shelters, on street, and even a couple of months in the slammer for stealing food. That was actually how he ran into Orihime.

He had broken into the store early that morning to steal some drinks and food. She caught him as she opened the store. Needless to say he scared her something terrible when she found him. The police were called and off he went to jail. He would have gotten more time if Orihime hadn't been there at the court house for his hearing. He barely remembered her from school and paid little mind to her at the time so why was she fighting for him? She somehow managed to talk the judge into letting him off with a lighter sentence stating that he was only stealing food to live on not going after the money in the safe. Somehow the judge somewhat agreed and knocked off a couple of months. He was also told never to go near the store again.

That of course didn't happen. He started going there to get food from her in the mornings 3 months ago. Then over time they got lunch together after her shift. Honestly, he had grown very attached to her but currently he didn't feel like he should even try to have an actual relationship. He couldn't support himself and he knew she couldn't support both of them. It wouldn't be fair to her. That's why he was pushing harder to find a job. If he could show that he was stable then he would try for her a little harder.

Orihime was too nice he had concluded a while ago. She had a knack for helping others even when she could barely help herself. He sighed as they were seated at a booth. The menus were handed to them along with the silverware. The waiter gave Ichigo a few disgusted glances before he left.

"Pick out whatever you want," she said, looking over her menu. "I'll pay for it!"

"I'll just stick with something cheap," he said, opening his menu.

"Honestly, you don't have to keep doing that," she grumbled, setting down her menu. "It's your birthday present. I really don't mind."

"You keep saying that but it does bother me," he answered keeping his face behind the laminated list of foods. "You've gotten me new clothes and helped out with other expenses. You're too damn nice."

"And that's a problem?" she asked as he finally put down his menu and looked at her.

"It can be. Orihime, listen… Being nice to people is a good thing but you being overly nice can lead to people walking all over you. You have a real problem with saying no to people among other things," he stated, folding his arms. "You helping me get out of jail for instance. I knew I ran the risk of getting caught. I knew what I did was illegal and I deserved the time for it. There was no reason for you to stick your neck out for me when I did that. You could have lost your job because you helped me."

"Do you want this? Is has shrimp in it. I know you like shrimp."

"Are you even remotely paying attention to me?"

"Did you say something? Oh, this one sounds good with the garlic sauce!"

She gave him a big grin and his right eye twitched in aggravation. She heard him but she didn't want to acknowledge it. He slumped down his seat and picked up his menu again. It was like talking to a brick wall at times. He sighed a little looking over the food items some more. He really hated taking so much from her.

* * *

By the end of the night Ichigo was more than little surprised. After lunch she took him to the movie theater to watch some sort of horror movie she was dying to see. He wasn't overly fond of the genre but Orihime enjoyed it. In fact he really couldn't complain too much about the movie. She clung to him quite a bit and hid her face in his shoulder at the scarier moments. Then after that she decided to take him around through the park for a couple of hours and got some shaved ice. They then stopped at a small eatery for dinner. If Ichigo didn't know any better this whole evening would have almost be like a date. In fact he had inkling that Orihime wanted it that way.

It was nearly dark now as they headed back towards Orihime's small apartment building. When at all possible he would walk her back home. It was the least he could do for her. They were almost to her apartment only about a block to go. When a man jumped out of the alley from their left and tried to grab Orihime's purse. He almost got it off her shoulder when Ichigo came around her and grabbed the man and pushed him off her.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, asshole?" Ichigo snapped.

"Back off, man! Give me the damn purse and no one gets hurt," the attacker quickly pulled out a large knife.

"Ichigo, look out!" she screamed, stepping back.

"I see it! Get lost, you bastard," Ichigo snapped, standing between her and the attacker. "We aren't giving you shit!"

"Give me the purse! Now!" the attacker ordered, holding out the knife, closer to Ichigo. "C'mon, I don't want to hurt anyone! But we can do this the easy way or the hard way."

"Piss off," Ichigo bit out, grabbing the man's wrist, trying to remove the large blade.

"Ichigo, be careful!" Orihime scream, watching the two men fight.

They struggled a bit before knocking each other to the pavement. Ichigo got the upper hand when he was able to drive his thumb into the man's eye. He let out a scream of pain before dropping the knife and took off down the sidewalk with sirens ringing off in the distance. A few other people that had seen the fight called the police.

"Ichigo, are you okay?" Orihime asked, kneeling down to him. "What hurts?"

"Bastard rolled over on my wrist. I sprained it, I think," he said, holding his wrist close to his body. "OW! This really hurts."

"He didn't cut you did he?" she asked, trying to look at his arm. "Are you hurt elsewhere?"

"No. I'm fine," he said, letting go of his arm to let her look at it. "It's just sprained. He didn't hurt you, did he?""

"No, no! I'm fine! You know it could be broken if he rolled on it," she said, looking at it just as the police pulled up.

They turned to look as the police got out of their cars and hurried over to them. Orihime helped Ichigo back to his feet.

"You two okay?" an officer asked.

"Yeah, mostly. If you're wondering he went off that way," Ichigo said, hooking a thumb down the street. "Average build guy. Wearing a black leather jacket and balding a little with light brown hair."

A few of the officers went off in the direction suggested while a few stayed with them to get the finer details of what happened and so on. Of course they found Ichigo's own small rap-sheet for the break in a few months earlier. They questioned him a bit more. Just in case this was a setup or something but everything cleared. An officer walked the two of them around block to Orihime's apartment.

"If there's anything else you remember, let us know," the officer said, looking at Orihime and then at Ichigo. "Be safe, you two."

"Will do, officer, thank you," Orihime said as the cop turned on his heel and walked off. "You want to come in and put some ice on that? You won't go to the hospital and I think you're being silly."

"For the last time. It's a sprain. You worry too much," he said, glancing down at his wrist.

"As much as I love a tough guy act… You can drop it just this once," she ordered, grabbing his good arm and pulled him into the apartment. "Have a seat. I'll get you an ice pack."

He stood in the doorway as she walked off towards the kitchen. He felt awkward being in here. It had been a while since had been in someone's home; much less a woman's home. He looked around a bit. There wasn't much. There were a few pictures on the walls. There was a worn down loveseat and a stand with a small analog TV on it. This place was indeed small as it was a one room apartment. Only the bathroom had its own little space, cut off from the rest of the area. He watched as she grabbed handfuls of ice for the freezer and put them in a zipper baggy.

She turned, closing the bag and started back over to him. She noticed he hadn't moved one bit. She sighed and walked up to him. Was he that nervous to be in here? Grant it this was his first time in her home but why was he so skittish? She stopped in front of him and held out the ice filled baggy.

"I said you can sit down. You don't have to stand in the doorway," she said as he took the bag from her. "There's not much you can break in here. I trust you. After all you did save me this evening!"

She walked over to the loveseat and sat down. She patted the cushion next to her, calling him to come sit by her. He still didn't feel right about this. He hesitantly knocked off his shoes and slowly made his was over. She looked up at him and patted the seat again. He sat down and put his wrist with the ice bag on his lap.

Orihime could see the tension build in his shoulders. Why was he so nervous to be in here? Was he scared to be in here? What was there to be scared about? It was just her apartment. It was a lot better than the tent he slept in under the bridge by the river. He was smooshed up against the opposite armrest. What was making him so nervous? She let out a small sigh and scooted a little closer to him closing the gap. The tension in his shoulders tightened even more and he had a panicked look on his tanned face. Was it her? What did she do?

"You… Okay? Did I do something?" she asked and he shook his head. "Then how come you're acting so silly around me all of a sudden?"

"I just…" he muttered, turning away from her. "You keep doing all this and I have nothing to pay you back with. I feel bad about it."

"Oh, not this again. Ichigo, I'm not doing this just because…" she stopped herself. Should she say it? She took in a deep breath. "I… I'm not… I'm not doing all this because I take pity on you, okay? Th-there's a lot more to it than—that…"

He slowly turned to look back at her. Her cheeks were flushed a bright pink as she looked him in the eyes. He knew why, honestly he did, but he didn't feel right about it. He tilted his head down and let his long orange bangs hide his chocolate eyes a little. He wanted to tell her something but…

"I can't," he muttered, leaning forward a bit before turning to look back at her. "Look at me! There's nothing to me! I have no place to call my own, no money to my name, and I can't find a job to save my life. Orihime, I'm not worth it. Once I get myself a good job and get some money then I'll—"

She put a finger on his lips to shut him. She scooted a little closer and wrapped her arms around him. He froze, feeling her warm weight press down on him. Her large breasts straddled his left arm as she reached around him and folded her hands on his opposite shoulder. Her chin rested gently on his left shoulder as she looked at him. His face was now just as red as hers as she held onto him.

"Uh, Orihime…?" Ichigo swallowed a knot in his throat as the ice pack fell off his lap and onto the floor. "Or-Orihime, you're, uh…"

She moved a little closer to him; throwing her legs over his before adjusting her butt on his lap so she was facing him. Her knees were up under his arms, pressing into the back of the loveseat. She brought her hands up and started running her fingers through his orange locks. He remained motionless for a moment or two before be brought his hands down to grab her hips. She leaned forward, pressing her ample chest to his and began kissing his neck all the while her fingers weaved through his shaggy locks.

He moaned a little and her kisses grew a little livelier. His hands that were on her hips slid up a little and then dove back down under the waistband of her slacks and underwear. She backed up little, huffing some as he looked at her. He leaned forward this time returning the same fevered kisses to her neck. It was her turn to moan as he slipped his hands under her work shirt and traced every little rib up before stopping at her bra. He worked his fingers under the wire in the front and her hands slid down his back, holding onto him as he leaned a little farther down on her.

She soon found herself clawing up the back of his t-shirt with a strong wanting to remove the old fabric. He pulled his hands from her assets and assisted her by taking off his shirt for her and dropped it to the floor. The tips of her painted fingers ran down his slightly muscular chest and down passed his belly button. He quickly reached up and undid the top two buttons on her shirt and she pulled off her shirt, dropping it to the floor on top of his. With one fluid motion he picked her up and laid her down on the loveseat on her back.

"Are you sure…?" he asked just over a whisper, leaning over her with his good hand by her head for support. "I mean it. Are you sure?"

She reached up and put her fingers again in his hair. Her ash blue orbs stared longingly into his chocolate browns. He was still unsure. She wanted to see that uneasiness leave him. She didn't like to see that in her hero. She smiled at him.

"Yesss! I want you. I want my brave tiger," she breathed, pushing herself up a little and kissed his forehead and then laid back down, taking her hands and caressed his tense shoulders. "Ravish me, my tiger! Take me!"

"As you wish, my princess."

* * *

The next morning Orihime woke up on the loveseat. She was groggy and sore. What time was it? She looked out the window to see the faintest bit of sunlight fighting its way through the curtain over the kitchen skin. Dear God! What time was it? She had to be late for work! She quickly sat up and went to stand only to step on something underfoot. She crumpled to the floor almost, hitting her head on the TV stand. A shadowed figure slowly sat up, clutching his side.

"OW! Did you step on me?" he asked, holding his side.

"I-Ichigo?" she choked out, blinking the haze from her eyes. Clarity hit her like a ton of brick as to what happened. "Oh, Ichigo, I'm so sorry! I didn't know you were there!"

A chill caressed her body as she finally took notice that there wasn't a scrap of clothing to be had on her. Save for her knees highs that were rolled down to her ankles. She had a feeling Ichigo was most likely in the same situation. That would explain the sore areas. She shook her head and stood up.

"Ugh! I have to get dressed! I'm late for work! I'm sorry, Ichigo! Take your time getting up. Oh, I'm so going to be late," she quickly hurried off towards the closet and looked for clothes. "Take a shower and go through the fridge if you'd like while I'm gone!"

She grabbed her work clothes and dashed into the bathroom. He heard the shower turn on as he got up to his bare feet. He rubbed his abused ribs she had stepped on. When had he fallen asleep? He looked around on the floor and tried to sift for his clothes in the darkness. He turned on the lamp by the loveseat finally able to see what was his looking for. He got dressed and just pulled on his shirt over his head when Orihime dashed of the bathroom haphazardly dressed. She almost stumbled over her own bare feet.

"Hey, hey! Easy! You don't want to hurt yourself," he said as she struggled to put her wet hair up in the ponytail. "You're going a mile a minute! Take a breather!"

"Can't! I'm late! I can't waste time," she exclaimed, finally somewhat getting her hair up. "I'll see you this afternoon at the café, right?"

"Uh… Yeah, always," he smiled and she smiled back. A thought then dawned on him. "You want me to walk you?"

"I'm sure that jerk is long gone! If the owner sees you with me it might look bad," she pointed out, dashing towards the door. "He already has a hunch that I've been meeting up with you every day after my shift but if he actually sees us together…"

She quickly slid on her shoes and grabbed her purse off the hook by the door.

"You don't have on your socks," Ichigo stated, running up to her before she left.

"Screw those silly socks," she snapped, slinging the door open. "I'll see this afternoon!"

"Orihime, hold on," he said, grabbing her and kissed her square on the lips before pulling back. "Be safe, okay?"

"I will, tiger," she hummed, running a hand over through his orange hair. "Bye, Ichigo! Love you!"

And like that she was gone before he could utter a response. Ichigo shut the door back and locked it. He put the tips of his fingers to his lips. He had just flat out kissed the woman like it was an everyday thing. A smile formed under his fingers. He liked that. He liked that a lot and he would like to do it every day.

He turned back towards the main area of the apartment, putting his back against the door. The thought of a warm shower sounded good as he rubbed his sore wrist. It was still swollen. He'd put more ice on it after he was cleaned up some. Apparently she liked him no matter what, clean or dirty, rich or dirt poor. Clearly she didn't care.

"Hahaha, yes," he cheered, heading towards the bathroom. "I'll get cleaned up see about job hunting again!"

* * *

The hours ticked by and Ichigo soon found himself on his usual bench, waiting for Orihime by the café. He ran his hand through his clean hair. It felt so soft and was a brighter orange than he remembered. No doubt that's how he merited that new pet name. He was orange like a tiger. He took in a deep breath, smelling the different coffees and foods coming from the café. It was a nice sunny summer afternoon.

He turned to see Orihime coming towards him waving happily like always. He got to his feet to greet her. She hurried over to him and took his hand into hers. She smiled up at him and gave a small tug towards the café door. They walked in and took their usual seat in a booth next to the main window.

Now that everything between them was open, the tension about a lot of things had faded. Ichigo no longer felt like he was walking on eggshells around her. He didn't have to be so perfect. Clearly she didn't care about his current standing but he knew it would be the right thing to better his life, nonetheless. If he truly wanted a future with this beautiful woman but he had to show her that he was the strong, proud tiger she wanted him to be. He now had more motivation to do what he needed to find a job and get his life back on track.

Orihime noticed a pretty large change in Ichigo since last night. The barriers he had put up to safe guard himself were now shattered. Hell, he even kissed her goodbye this morning as she rushed for work. A blush colored her cheeks thinking back on that, not to mention what happened just last night. She had left his mark on her neck. She hadn't even noticed the hickey until a co-work pointed it out and teased her about it. She took her hair down and used her long tawny locks to hide it from the store owner. He did not need to see that.

After lunch they went back to the park and walked around, talking about different things of interest. Orihime finally brought up the idea about Ichigo working at the new zoo. It being brand new it could probably still use more hands to get it going. Even if he didn't work with the animals he could work at concessions or the souvenir shops. The idea was tempting and it didn't sound bad.

After the park Orihime took Ichigo over to a small drug store to get a brace for his still swollen wrist. She still protested that he should get it looked at but he refused. They left the store and she wrapped up his wrist in the long cloth bandage. Just for added measure she took out a pen from her purse and drew a little heart right on the top. He flushed a little looking at the mark and she laughed at his reaction.

It was getting close to sun down when Ichigo walked Orihime home and thankfully this time without a mugging. She offered him another night and as tempting as that was he needed to get back to his tent. It was a small community under the bridge and if people didn't return for so long their belongings were up for grabs. He kissed her goodbye again in the tangerine sunlight and hurried on down the sidewalk.

He arrived back to his tent at dusk and thankfully his few belongings were still intact. One day he'd be out of this tattered old tent. He knew it for sure this time. Now he had real motivation to get out of this mess he had put himself in. He got out of his jeans and t-shirt and put on pair of black short and a stained tank. He flopped back on his well-worn sleeping bag and looked up at the red ceiling of his tent before lifting his damage wrist. A ghost of a smile spread across his lips as looked at that silly little heart.

"Knock, knock!"

Ichigo sat up with a start at the sound of the voice just outside his tent. He stuck his head out and looked up at an older gentleman dressed in short white pants, beat-up wooden sandles, and a green shirt. The man smiled a bit pushing up his white and green stripped hat.

"Urahara, what do you—huh?" Ichigo was now a bit cross-eyed, looking at something brown and white only a couple of inches from his nose, sitting on the end of stick. "What's that?"

"I've got roasted marshmallows, want one?" he asked in a sing-song voice, waving it back and forth in Ichigo's face. "Made a little cash doing a few odds and ends yesterday. Decided to get some food last night."

Ichigo grabbed the offending stick with a quick jerk. He looked at the large browned marshmallow at the end of the stick and sighed. Might as well. He pulled off the gooey object and popped in his mouth.

"I got more if you want," Urahara said, hooking a thumb over his shoulder, towards his small area.

"I think that was enough, thanks," Ichigo said, handing back the long stick.

"Ah, come on, I could use the company if nothing else. Come on over," Urahara grinned, clacking his cane down on old soda can. "Besides, where were you last night, hm?"

"None of your business," Ichigo snorted, getting to his feet.

"Oh, was it with that cute little lady friend of yours? Did ya get lucky?" Urahara questioned, grinning with a sly glint in his eyes as Ichigo turned a bright red. "You did! Oh, you're as red as a beet!"

"Butt out," Ichigo snapped, clinching his jaw tight.

"Nothing to be embarrassed about. Sheesh…" Urahara drawled, elbowing Ichigo in the ribs a bit. "So, marshmallows!"

Ichigo groaned, following the blond man over to his little area where he had a small fire going in a well-worn pit. There were several bags full of foodstuff just inside the tent door. Quite a few bags were nothing but marshmallows.

"More marshmallows?" Ichigo asked, looking at the bags on the tent floor. "How much did you buy?"

"It was either that or marshmallows… Uh, I mean liquor," Urahara shook his head, opening a new bag of marshmallows. "I over did it…"

"Are you sure liquor wasn't involved with this?" Ichigo asked, crossing his arms.

"Ehhhh, more like the aftermath of reefer," Urahara gave a devilish grin as Ichigo's scowl deepened. "I woke up this morning surround by marshmallows. Apparently, I was just really craving them last night."

"Uh-huh. That explains it. So you switched out one vice out for another?" Ichigo asked as Urahara shrugged. "You know you'll never get your fiancée back doing this. Hell, you lost your job at the university because you walked into your class sauced."

"I know, I know. I'm a bit of screw up. I'm trying to clean up but it's harder than you think," Urahara answered, putting the marshmallow on the stick and held it over the fire. "This isn't something you can just overcome, Ichigo. I screwed up big time. I mean, I was only a month away from getting married and I was about to become the Head of the Science Department on top of that. It's been nearly 4 years now. I'm sure she's moved on long ago. I haven't even seen her in a while at her usual haunts."

"Have you tried calling her?" Ichigo asked.

"Yeah, she changed her number on me—twice," he moaned, rotating the stick so the other side browned as well. "Losing my job was the brick that broke the camel's back."

"I thought it was 'the straw that broke the camel's back?'" Ichigo questioned, looking puzzled

"Normally, yes, but losing my job was a lot heavier than a piece of thin plant matter. She tolerated my habit but… The red flag went up after that and Yoruichi called it off," Urahara sighed, taking the marshmallow off the flame. "A day doesn't go by that I don't regret it."

"And after that you lost everything and ended up here," Ichigo said and the blond nodded. "Seems to be a popular theme around here. Different variations but…"

"What about you? Talked to your dear daddy lately?" Urahara asked, blowing on the hot marshmallow.

"No," Ichigo said, flatly. "I couldn't even look him in the eye if I wanted."

"Really? You've been out here—what? Two—three years and all because you had a fight? Sounds petty to me," Urahara said, popping the marshmallow in his mouth.

"In hindsight, yeah, but… I said some really nasty things right to his face," Ichigo sighed. "I blamed him for mom's death back when I was nine. I called him some rather unsavory names and… Tension mounted over the years and around the end of high school I just…"

"Blew like a volcano?" Urahara hummed and Ichigo nodded, sitting down beside the man.

"That's putting it mildly but, yeah…"

"So… Think you'll be able to face him again? He is your father. I'm sure he was hurt but I don't think he loves you any less for it."

"I don't know. I even directed my anger at my two little sisters for no good reason," Ichigo moaned, running a hand down his face. "I was just an angry teenager, thinking my problems were the only problems in the world."

"I believe we all think our problems are the only ones in the world. People are self-centered after all. Even the most giving people can be self-centered when something really bothers or hurts them," Urahara said, pulling out another marshmallow. "We victimize ourselves a lot. I know I do with my own problems. I often think if I had grown up in a better house and maybe if I hadn't been bullied so much I wouldn't have started drinking like a fish. You know, poor pitifully me and all that. It's just that sometimes we realize too late that we weren't a victim but we've dug our hole so deep that we can't climb out without falling back in. Ultimately, starting the cycle over again."

"Yeah," Ichigo whispered, picking up a stick and tossed it on the fire. "I dug one hell of a hole."

"But enough of that sappy drivel! So what's the deal with you and your lovely lady friend, huh? Is that how you got that little boo-boo on your wrist there?" Urahara mused, nudging Ichigo again with his elbow. Ichigo flushed and quickly tucked his hurt wrist behind his back. "How long did it take you to work her down? Or did she jump your bones instead?"

"C-can we not? Seriously," Ichigo bit out, grabbing the bag of marshmallows and knocked the blond in the head, knocking his striped hat a little crooked. "What happens between me and her is strictly our own business!"

"I just figured I'd ask, you sourpuss," Urahara shrugged, fixing his hat back straight and put the stick with the marshmallow over the flame again. "Goodness knows I'm not getting any."

"Yeah, well, you're not living vicariously through me!"

"A man can only dream."

"Keep dreaming!"

* * *

Orihime was laid out on her loveseat with a fuzzy pink blanket over her legs as she watched a rerun of her favor sitcom. Grant it she almost knew this episode by heart but she still laughed at the jokes and the characters. In her hands and lap sat a blue bowl of cereal; a fruity verity she had loved since she was child. It was getting close to the time she usually called lights out. She didn't want a repeat of today and be late in opening the shop. Thankfully, the owner was running a tad behind that morning as well having to change out a flat tire on the way into work.

She counted her blessings but she didn't want to risk it again. She finished off the last of the cereal and downed the bit of milk left in the bowl. She got up and put the bowl in the sink before walking back over to the loveseat. She took off the cushions and pulled out the bed and fixed the sheets that were still on it. It wasn't the greatest resting place but she had no right to complain. Ichigo was slept in a sleeping bag on the ground in a tent. She really had no room to complain about the thin mattress. She reached over and pulled out the covers and pillows out from behind the loveseat.

Orihime turned off the lamp and set the alarm on her phone. She went to reach for the remote to turn off the TV when the local newscaster flashed on the screen. She paused as this was never a good thing. Was there a bad storm or something? The newscaster was quickly looking over some papers in her hands. She then turned to the camera and cleared her throat.

" **Breaking news. Karakura Town is under high alert tonight. As of 40 minutes ago two large cats kept at the soon-to-open Karakura Zoo have escaped their enclosures. I repeat two large cats have escaped the soon-to-open Karakura Zoo located on the east side of town. The large cats are said to be an endangered South China Tiger and an albino jaguar. Zoo officials were cleaning their cages when the cats somehow managed to escape the building and make it outside. Cameras last spotted them scaling the zoo's outer walls and making their way across the parking lot into the city. Authorities and zoo official are asking people to please remain in their houses and to not go out looking for the big cats. They are also asking that you bring in your pets and pick up any trash to keep the cats out of your yard. If any of these cats are spotted report them immediately to the authorities. Do not try to approach, harass, or attempt to capture these animals. All though raised in captivity they are still wild animals and if they feel threated will attack.**

" **If you are confronted by them do not put your back to them and do not run. You are asked to keep your eyes on them at all times as you make your way to safety. Never turn your back on a large cat. Given that the South China Tiger is a critically endangered species authorities are going to try and capture it alive if at all possible. The tiger is an adult male roughly 8 feet (2.4 meters) long and weighting in over 300 pounds (136 kilograms). The jaguar, though smaller, is also male around 6 feet (1.8 meters) long and weighs in at just over 200 pound (90.7 kilograms). These are in no way friendly house cats. For those of you that may just be tuning in, Karakura Town is under high alert after two large cats escaped the soon-to-open zoo on the eastern most side of the city. The cats are a South China Tiger and an albino jaguar…"**

Orihime sat on her small bed in shock. How did those cats get out? She remembered hearing about them the other day. They were in quarantine if she remembered correctly. That was a horrify thought as she walked to work in the mornings. She was not going to like the trek to work. It was still dark out and the streets weren't that busy. It sent a strong chill down her spine.

Then another even more horrify thought struck her. Ichigo and the small community he lived in, they may have no idea about the large cats escaping. However, they were on the south side of town towards the river. With luck maybe the cats will head north but what if they don't? Panic hit her and she flung her legs out of bed, then she paused. She didn't know where that place was. He never brought her there because he felt too embarrassed. She had a rough idea but she couldn't go out looking for a place like that all night long. She also couldn't afford the transport fair and she sure wasn't walking around the dark streets on foot. She slowly pulled her feet back onto the bed and brought her knees to her chest.

"There's not much I can do. If I report where they may be the police will have those people uproot again," she muttered, biting her lip a little. "Hopefully nothing happens and I'll see Ichigo at work. I'll tell him about the cats and have him move in until they're caught or something. I don't think he'll argue over that."

She knew she wasn't going to sleep well that night. The thought of a tiger and jaguar running around an urban jungle was a scary thought, terrifying even. They were apex-predators after all and they were built to kill and devour. She shivered again as she stretched out her legs and pulled the cover over them. She propped herself up on the pillows. She opted to keep the TV on and fall asleep. That way she could keep tabs on where they are headed and if they are captured or not. This was going to be a long nerve-wrecking night for her. She was going to make sure Ichigo came home with her tomorrow. No ifs, ands, or buts.

* * *

Ichigo pushed off his sleeping bag and sat up, scratching his head a bit. He needed to pee. He crawled out of his small red tent and made his way through the small camp to the designated area for such business. It was a ways away to keep the smell down not to mention for a little more sanitation; even though what was hard to come by out here. He rubbed his hazy eyes as a local dog growled and barked, walking by one of the tents. It was a little dog; some Chihuahua mix. Not many people in the camp were fond of it as it was an actual ankle biter. The owner was an older woman and she babied that thing always claiming people harassed him. That was hardly ever the case. The dog was just unruly and ill tempered.

"Shut up," Ichigo grumbled and dog growled and yapped even louder. "I ought to dropkick you, you brat."

He continued on over towards the river some. The small brown ankle biter followed not far behind, still growling and yapping the whole way. Ichigo picked up a stick and threw it at the noisy animal. The dog backed up and yelped. Ichigo continued on to his desired location. Hopefully, the dog would leave him be. Once there he was able to relieve himself in peace, well, for about 7 seconds. The dog started up again a ways behind him and he rolled eyes in aggravation.

"Can't even take a piss in peace. I hate that dog," he groaned. "Shut up, you stupid dog! Jeez..."

A moment later the dog's aggressive barking started to turn more into whines and yelps. Like something was scaring it. That was odd. Ichigo concluded his business and turned to face the whining canine. Its ears were back and its tail was tuck between his shaking legs as he stared into the waist tall grass that lead up the embankment. It was slowly walking sideways from the grass, crouched a little. Something was in there that was scaring the dog. Probably a larger dog. Most likely one of the trays that patroled the area usually in a pack. Practically wild and vicious to a fault if tangle with. They were a real nuisance around their camp. He might as well endure the yappy mutt and take him back before he got killed.

"C'mere, Poochi. C'mere," Ichigo cooed but the small dog only shook more and whined. "Now, now! I'm not going to hurt you."

He was only a few feet from the fear stricken mutt when the tall grass parted a bit. Ichigo paused. That wasn't a dog. That was way too big for the local dogs. A car passed by not too far on the hilltop. The quick burst of light from up above gave him just enough light for the eye shine of the animal to flash at him. That was definitely not a dog. What was that? The beast let out a low deep growl.

"What the…?" Ichigo whispered now completely fixated on the creature. _What the hell is that? That almost sounds like… Some big cat… But that's impossible!_

Suddenly, the dog was of very little interest to him as he started to back up and head back towards camp. He didn't need to get tangled up with this thing, whatever it was. As far as he was concerned that monster in the grass could have the yappy ankle muncher.

"Sorry, Poochi, you're on your own, buddy," Ichigo said, backing up some more.

A moment later the large animal sprang out from the grass and landed hard on its small pray. The tiny dog let out one small yelp before it grew silent. Ichigo stumbled back to the hard ground, shaking at the sight before him. The massive paws of the beast had pretty crushed dog under them. The large animal started to pull and rip at the dog. Its mouth full of dagger long teeth and it was big enough to pretty much fit the whole mutt in on one bite.

"C-can't be… A t-tiger?" Ichigo squeaked out, looking wide-eyed at the large cat, playing with the shredded canine.

He knew he had to get out of there but how? He knew enough not to run as all predators give chase but he couldn't keep setting there either. He started scooting back slowly along the grassy ground, keeping his eyes on the monster cat. It shook its head and snorted a bit as it nibbled on the remains of the brown dog. Its bright golden eyes then fell on the panicked young man. Ichigo looked into those eyes and saw a strange gleam deep within them.

Ichigo's heart was now sitting heavy in his throat and a chill ran from his head to his feet. He was a lot more appetizing that some little Chihuahua mix. Ichigo moved back a little more and the large tiger got back up onto its massive paws. The beast licked his chops a little, getting rid of some of the blood from the dog. There was hardly anything left of the once annoying ankle biter.

Ichigo let out a faint whimper as he drew in heavy panicked breaths. Where was he to go? Behind him sat the river, to his left was the small unprotected camp, and to his right was more tall grass and a tall steep hill. A road sat at the top of the hill but it was blocked by guardrails to keep cars from going down the embankment where he and the tiger were now currently staring down each other. Ichigo's future was looking rather bleak. The tiger would out swim him, he couldn't lead this beast to the camp, and the tiger would be on top of him before even made it halfway up the tall embankment. In a word, Kurosaki Ichigo was screwed.

The tiger made a guttural noise as it made its way towards Ichigo, in a trotting like manner. The young man tried to move back a little faster as the tiger quickly encroached. Its large paws barely making a sound moving along the dirt and grass. Soon Ichigo found himself on the water's edge. The cool water lapped at his back and his quivering hands dug into the soft mud of the bank. The big cat stopped a few short feet from him and reached out with a large paw and started patting roughly at Ichigo's right foot. On reflex, Ichigo quickly pulled his bare feet closer to his body, folding into a loose ball. That, however, brought the tiger in a little closer. Ichigo's voice was now locked in his throat as the large cat's head hovered just over the top his bare knees. Ichigo was now in a heavy sweat as the cat tried to push even closer still. Their eyes locked once more and that strange gleam was even brighter now, closer up. Ichigo didn't know what it was but there was something about those gold orbs that didn't set well with him. An intelligence, perhaps?

Ichigo could feel the cat's warm breath on his face as the beast's chest pushed again this folded legs, forcing them apart a little. The added weight made the mud under Ichigo's hands gave way. In one quick motion his upper body slapped hard into the dark river water. He barely had just enough time to realize his head was underwater when he felt a sharp pain in his right leg followed by two hard, quick jerks. His head was soon resting on the water's edge. He scrambled to sit up on the muddy bank, shaking the water and wet locks from his face. The tiger had him by the leg and was pulling him out of the river.

"LET GOOOO," Ichigo screamed at the top of his lungs, kicking his legs but the cat instead started to pull him towards the tall grass. "AAAAAGH! LET ME GOOO!"

In a fluid motion the tiger released the flailing leg and landed squarely on Ichigo's chest, slamming the man back to the earth. The wind was forced out of him rapidly, stunning the young man, silencing him. Ichigo wouldn't have been surprised if a couple of his ribs broke from the massive force and weight of the cat. A moment later the large tiger readjusted itself and the dazed Ichigo soon felt sharp dagger long teeth sink deep into his left shoulder. Then with a few quick tugs the tiger pulled him along the ground and into the tall grass where it had come from. A trail of fresh blood was the only thing left of the young man as a lonely car drove by on the hilltop.

(A/N That's it so far! I'm going to make this about a 3 chapter story. I just wanted it out of my mind. I can't get rid of it! If I get it out then I'll get back to my other story. I had this idea from a dream in a way. I started dreaming about tigers for some reason crossing my path in the road and another in the back of my car patting me on the shoulder. There was also tiger disguised as a person. It may stem from the fact that I own a cat named Tiger. I then started thinking this would be an interesting story concept. So, yeah. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.)

Millie M. Banshee


	2. Princess

The Princess and the Tiger

Chapter 2

Princess

(A/N Well, this is the second chapter. Think of this as the second act. This is just something a little different than what I usually write. So, yeah…)

 **SOUNDS/sounds**

 _Thoughts_

* * *

(Last Time)

"LET GOOOO," Ichigo screamed at the top of his lungs, kicking his legs but the cat instead started to pull him towards the tall grass. "AAAAAGH! LET ME GOOO!"

In a fluid motion the tiger released the flailing leg and landed squarely on Ichigo's chest, slamming the man back to the earth. The wind was forced out of him rapidly, stunning the young man, silencing him. Ichigo wouldn't have been surprised if a couple of his ribs broke from the massive force and weight of the cat. A moment later the large tiger readjusted itself and the dazed Ichigo soon felt sharp dagger long teeth sink deep into his left shoulder. Then with a few quick tugs the tiger pulled him along the ground and into the tall grass where it had come from. A trail of fresh blood was the only thing left of the young man as a lonely car drove by on the hilltop.

* * *

(Present)

Orihime arrived at work rather groggy that morning. She had only gotten about two hours of sleep, trying to keep tabs on the news. So far there were no reported sightings of the large cats. She unlocked the doors and went through the regular ritual of getting the store open. She poured the usual cup of coffee for Ichigo and walked to the back of the store. She unlocked the backdoor and opened it but to her dismay she didn't see him on the old bench. She looked around the small area but there was no sign of him. Perhaps, he was late she tried to rationalize. It's happened before but this was a hell of a time to be late with those large cats running around. She set the cup down on the bench along the sandwiches. She had to finish up opening the store.

She closed the door back and finished the last of the little things. She swept the entrance and turned on the open sign. She opted to check the back once more only to find the cup and sandwiches still sitting on the bench. She felt her heart sink as she walked back inside. She really hoped nothing happened to him. She walked behind the counter and turned on the radio. She adjusted the station to the morning news. She had a sinking feeling in her gut that something was very wrong.

* * *

He groggily sat up in the tall dewy grass that sat just reached above his head. The sounds of the morning traffic above him echoed down the embankment with a loud roar. His head rolled down, looking at his injured left shoulder and then slowly turning to his right leg. His mind was still in a daze as he stared blankly at his torn limb. He slowly reached up, putting a hand on his shoulder. He mildly took notice of the wrap on his wrist was loose, wet, and covered in mud. He blinked slowly as he looked at his wrist through his heavy daze and tried to fix it. His movements were slow and clunky as though his was not familiar with how his fingers worked.

He managed to get the soiled wrap off his arm but then could not figure out how it went back on. He began to grow aggravated by the damn the thing. He curled back is lips as though snarling at the annoying bandage. A deep guttural growl escaped through his clinched teeth. He then tossed the bandage into the grass that only caught it and sent it back to the ground by his leg. The snarl faded quickly enough as he sat motionless for a bit.

He suddenly jumped hearing something just on the other side of the grass cover. He slowly turned his head, noticing several people headed his way. He heard shouts of panic and a woman crying. He then took notice of a few feet running towards his location. He peered up over the top of the grass to see several men, staring down at him.

"Ich… Ichigo?" the blond in the striped hat choked out, knocking the grass back with his cane to get a better look. "Good Lord, man! What…? What happened to you?"

Ichigo said nothing as he soon found himself surrounded by the small group. They quickly took notice of the large bloodied wounds in his leg and shoulder. Something clearly tried to tear him apart last night or early this morning. Ichigo kept his head down as he looked up at them with his eyes, studying each person carefully.

"This is bad. We need to get him to a hospital!"

"You don't think one of those, uh, big cats we heard on Hamada's radio did this, do ya?"

"Well, something made a meal out of Hayashi's dog. Clearly something tried to take a chunk of Kurosaki too!"

"Hey, Kurosaki? What did this to ya? Kurosaki? Hey, pal, you in there?"

"Oh, man. He don't look so good. He's really out of it."

"He's most likely in some form of shock from the attack. We need to get him some help. A few of us will stay here and watch him. Higuchi, you go call the ambulance for him."

"Right, I'm on it!"

"What about us, though? The police will want to move us again."

"I'd rather move than find a large cat outside my tent in the middle of the night. Tigers and jaguars are drawn to water. Especially tigers. The river is the last place we need to be right now. This tall grass isn't so good either. Daichi, Haku, give me hand. Let's see if we can get him out of this mess."

A second later Ichigo felt hands on him. Every muscle tensed in his body at the unwanted touch. His lips curled back again, exposing his clinched teeth. He swung hard at the two men on his right. They jumped back a little surprised at the fierce reaction.

"Hey, whoa! Ichigo, it's just us! We're trying to get you out of the grass," Urahara said, tilting up his hat a bit. "We're going to get you some help, okay? It'll be easier for emergency to get to you if you're not in this thicket."

"Don't… Touch… Me…" Ichigo forced through his teeth like a growl.

"Ichigo? What's wrong?" Urahara asked, kneeling down to the young man's level. "It's just us. That cat's long gone. Now, come on. We'll help you up to your feet."

He reached out trying to put a hand on Ichigo's good shoulder only to have Ichigo shrink back and get to his feet in a fevered rush. The three men stared at Ichigo in a bit of shock. He was hunched over a bit as he glared at them. His teeth we bared and he breathed heavily. Honestly, he looked like he was about to jump someone and attack them.

"Like wudda ya think's wrong with him?" Daichi asked, taking a step back. "He's not, uh, acting like himself."

"He's got a weird look in his eyes too," Haku added. "I don't like it."

"Ichigo, we want to help you. We're not going to hurt you," Urahara said, getting back to his feet, using his cane to help. "Can you tell us what's bothering you?"

"Leave me… Alone…" he growled out again.

"You're hurt that's the last thing you need is to be left alone," Urahara pointed out. "You're not thinking straight. Just calm down."

"I'm thinking just fine," Ichigo snapped, backing up from them.

"There's something not right about him," Haku said, looking at Urahara. "Urahara, it might be wise to do as he says."

"Yeah, I, uh, got the same vibe," Daichi nodded. "Something's not right."

Urahara brushed them off. Ichigo was just a bundle of nerves at the moment. Perhaps he could coax Ichigo out on his own.

"Well, you can clearly stand, that's a good thing. Can you walk out of the grass so that the people from the ambulance can look at you?" Urahara asked as Ichigo's snarl deepened.

A split second later, to their surprise, Ichigo took off around them along the river bank. They turned to watch him as he moved farther and farther from them. Despite his injured leg he was moving at a pretty good clip. The three men were left standing motionless, just staring at Ichigo's vanishing form.

"What the hell was that?" Daichi asked a little slack jawed.

"Not sure…" Haku drawled, shrugging his shoulders. "Man, something's really wrong here."

"So it would seem," Urahara said, turning back around. _Haku's right. Something's really wrong with him. That didn't seem like Ichigo. Not at all._

"So what now? The ambulance will be here any minute and Kurosaki's run off," Haku stated, following Urahara as did Daichi. "The police will be here too. They'll want a report."

"Talk to them when they come," Urahara said, heading back towards the camp. "I'm going to investigate something."

"So, uh, where are you going then?" Daichi asked.

"I have a pretty good idea of where he might be headed. He's rather late arriving there as it is."

* * *

Orihime sat on the small stool behind the counter as she counted her drawer. Today had been rather slow, which only made it drag on longer. Her mind was still on Ichigo a how late he was. She hadn't a chance to look out back for a few hours now with the owner hanging around. She closed the drawer and started to straighten the cigarettes behind her.

She heard the bell ring over the door and she turned to see who walked in. It was a thin blond man with raggedy cloths. In his right hand was a cane and weird stripe hat adorned on his head. He looked a little familiar to her but she couldn't quite place him but there were a lot of people coming in and out of the store.

"Good morning," she smiled as he approached the counter.

"Yes, morning. Name's Urahara Kisuke," he said and she nodded slightly, a little unsure of him. "Have you seen Ichigo?"

"No…" her heart dropped into her stomach like a frozen rock. "Why? What's wrong?"

"Sometime last night or early this morning, I'm not sure when, Ichigo left the main camp and got attacked," the man said in a hushed tone as a look of fear took over Orihime's usually smiling face. "We found him a little while ago but he wasn't acting right. He took off away from us like we were going to hurt him. He's got an injured leg and shoulder."

"What? He could be out back," Orihime said, walking around the counter as the owner came out of the office. "I'll go check an see if Kurosaki is—"

"What's this about Kurosaki?" he asked dully, chewing on a piece of gum as he looked at Orihime and the man with the odd hat.

Orihime stopped dead as she turned to look at her boss. This wasn't going to be good if he was out back. Ichigo had an order to stay off the property and they have been ignoring that order for months like it didn't exist. This could mean more than her job if Ichigo was found out behind the store.

"Uhhh…" she breathed as he walked up to her.

"Well? What's going on?" he asked again, crossing his arms.

"I… Please, don't be mad but I've been meeting up with him after he got out of jail and…" her voice fade as her boss' frown deepened quite a bit. "He might have been attacked last night and he may be out back."

"Attacked, huh? By what? Another store owner?" the man scoffed.

"Eh, I'd go more with a large cat," Urahara said, clacking his cane a little on the tile floor.

"Large cat? What?" the owner choked out a little flabbergasted.

"Kurosaki somehow survived a mauling by either the tiger or the jaguar last night but he's not acting right," Urahara stated, walking up to the man. "I deduced that he would either come here or to the café. Those are the two places he frequents most. I came here first thinking Inoue was still on the clock. Now we can continue this needless chatter on or we can tend to a man that might be slowly bleeding out behind your store."

The owner said nothing more as he hurried to the back with Orihime and Urahara behind him. He unlocked the door and swung it open in a hurry. Sure enough Ichigo was on the bench, hunched over with a small trail of blood leading back out toward the street. The coffee she had sat out for him was knocked over and had spilled over onto the pavement. The sandwiches were torn to shreds; the plastic wrappings and bread littered the ground. His leg was bleeding a good bit and his shoulder looked to be doing the same.

"Shit… Keep him here! I'll call someone for him," the owner said, ducking back in as Orihime rushed out.

"Ichigo, what happened?" Orihime asked, kneeling down to get a look at his leg. "Oh, you're bleeding! What attacked you?"

"Attacked?" he asked, looking down at her with half lidded eyes. "A… Tiger…"

"The tiger?" she asked in shock, trying to put her hands on his leg but he moved it away. "Let me look at it."

"Don't… Touch… Me…" Ichigo growled out again.

"He was like this earlier with me and a few others," Urahara spoke, walking up a little closer. "It's best to just follow his orders."

She looked up at Urahara and then back to Ichigo. Worry marring her delicate face.

"Ichigo, what's wrong? You're not acting like yourself," she said, getting to her feet. "We just want to help you. Please, tell us what's wrong."

He just looked at her but remained quiet. This really wasn't like him. What was wrong with him? She wanted to fix it but if he won't say anything there was nothing that anybody could do for him.

"He's not very vocal for some reason," Urahara said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "He wouldn't tell any of us either. He could have hit his head or something during the attack. There's no telling."

She went to move a little closer to him but like he had done earlier with Urahara and the group he curled back his lips into a snarl. She stopped and looked at him. This really wasn't like Ichigo. He was really starting to scare her.

"I got an ambulance headed this way," the store owner said, walking out, rubbing his balding head. "I'll tend the store for the time being."

"All right, thank you," Orihime nodded as the owner left again. She then turned back to her beloved. "Ichigo, we're getting you some help. You need to go to this hospital this time. Those bite wounds need to be taken care of. Clearly this is no sprained wrist so you can't talk your way out of it."

He snorted at her and looked away. She sighed and combed her fingers through her hair. A thought struck her as she pulled her fingers from her long locks. She looked at her hand and then Ichigo's head. He seemed to enjoy it earlier as she ran her fingers though his hair. Dare she risk it? She took in a deep breath and reached out. Her painted fingers tips made contact with the top of his head. His wild orange hair tickled a bit as she slowly started stroking his head. The tension in his muscles started to build again with each stroke.

"Ichigo…" she said quietly, lightly caressing his head. "Please, calm down… You're scaring us with the way your acting and you're hurting my feelings."

He slowly looked at her with a sharp stare and she stopped petting, pulling her hand away. She figured he wanted her to stop but to her surprise he reached out and put her hand back on his head. She quickly started stroking him again. Slowly the tension did start to leave his body. She continued stroking and scratching the top his head. He just sat there, unmoving, with his eyes closed, letting her continue. A couple of minutes later the ambulance and police arrived.

The Ichigo quickly went back to defense mode. He didn't want to get in the ambulance and he didn't want to talk to the police about the attack. For 40 minutes there was a large run around. Finally, Ichigo agreed but only if Orihime came with him in the ambulance. At this point they agreed just so he would get the medical attention he so desperately needed.

Orihime climbed in the back of the large vehicle with Ichigo and a couple of medics. She tried to stay out of the way as the medics tended to the large bite wounds. Ichigo didn't like being handled and just barely tolerated it. Once at the hospital he was rolled into emergency and his wounds were better assessed. The staff was warned about his strange temperament and that he remained somewhat compliant as long as Orihime remained close by.

Orihime was questioned about Ichigo if she knew anything of his medical history, where he was living, and so on. She gave all that she knew about him. When they asked her about family they could contact she hesitated, knowing the history between Ichigo and his father. She pondered for a few moments and decided to bite the bullet. She told them what she knew of his family and that Ichigo's father ran a small emergency clinic just a few miles away. She also made sure to mention the volcanic tension between the two.

It was deduced after a few x-rays and scans that Ichigo was in need of some surgery to clean out and patch up the wounds. The doctors were thankful that Ichigo didn't have an artery cut in either his leg or his shoulder. The bite wounds, though deep, were still shallower than they had expected for a mauling by such a large animal. The worst bite was on his leg, most liking caused from his kicking at the animal. They found a couple cracked ribs along with the sternum. They were hairline, thankfully. They also found that the bone breaks also included his wrist that he had so admittedly insisted was just a sprain. Orihime was going to hold that over his head for a while.

After a bit of a fight they got Ichigo sedated and off he went for surgery. Orihime waited in one of the small rooms, thumbing through several old magazines; some even dating back a couple of years. People came and went out of the small interior room. One man that came in was dressed in light blue scrubs, fairly bulky build, short black hair, and his chin hair was a little scruffy. She thought it might be one of the nurses just taking a break for the chaos in the back. She paid no more mind to him as she hunted and pecked through the tattered magazines. A few minutes later a nurse walked in, looking at a clipboard.

"Kurosaki?" she called out, looking up into the room.

Orihime stood up in a hurry as did the male nurse. The two looked at each other for a moment a little confused. The nurse then motioned them to follow her. Orihime followed a little ways behind the burly man and the nurse. They were guided through a large set of locked doors and down a couple of hallways. Soon they were in the recovery department. She guided them around a nurses' station and then stopped at a room. She pulled back light green curtain revealing a rather groggy Ichigo hooked up to several monitors and an IV machine. His leg was bandaged up clear to his knee and hanging up in a sling. His shoulder was also covered in bandages and his wrist was in black cast resting at his side. His chest was in a brace as well.

"What's your relation to the patient?" she asked, looking between Orihime and the man.

"Father," the man replied first.

"G-girlfriend…" Orihime mumbled, looking at the floor as the man turned to look at her slightly.

"Okay. Well, I can tell you he came out of surgery just fine. There weren't any real complications from his injures," she said, looking at the papers in her hands. "Blood work checks out fine—Hey!"

Ichigo's father snatched the clipboard from her fingers and read over it himself, flipping through them. The nurse looked a little out of sorts after having her clipboard yanked from her hand. She crossed her arms as the man continued to read over the results. Orihime took this time to slip past him and walk over to stand beside Ichigo. He really didn't look so good.

He was sleeping still or at least he looked that way. She reached out and rubbed the top of his head again, brushing back a little hair from his face. His eyes open into thin slits for a moment before shutting again. Obviously he was feeling the aftereffects of the anesthesia and the pain meds he was on.

"How are you feeling?" she asked, leaning in a little closer to him.

"Hurting…" he muttered, quietly.

"I bet you are," she replied, trying to put on a smile, looking at his bandaged shoulder. "Your dad's here."

"Hmph," he snorted.

Orihime looked up as Ichigo's father returned the papers and clipboard to the nurse. He walked in and slid the curtain closed behind him, making the small room a good bit darker. Only the light from the hall filtered in through opening at top and bottom of the curtain. Orihime stood up straight as the man walked around to the other side of the bed. Obviously, the tension was still quite thick. She felt a little uneasy being there. She had never met Ichigo's father before and he hardly talked about him other than to complain.

"Girlfriend, huh?" the older Kurosaki asked, looking at the monitor above his head.

"Uh, y-yes. I'm Inoue Orihime," she said, forcing a bit of a smile.

"Kurosaki Isshin," he answered, turning to look down at his son.

There was a very long, heavy pause that filled the air. In fact they didn't even really move or look at each other. Orihime bit her lip a little and Isshin rubbed his stubbly chin. The tension was getting thicker by the second but no one knew how to break it. Who would speak first and what should they say?

"The silence is annoying," Ichigo quietly muttered, slowly lifting his heavy eyelids.

"Oh, sorry," Orihime jumped, looking down at him.

Isshin grunted at little in response, looking at Ichigo and then at Orihime.

"How long?"

"Huh?"

"How long have you two been together?"

"Oh, uh, around three months. We used to be classmates a long time ago."

"Middle? High?"

"Both, actually. We just never really hung out or anything."

"How did you meet back up?"

"Oh… Well, we…"

Orihime had no idea if Isshin knew about Ichigo's no so squeaky clean record. Grant it, it was only that one thing he'd ever gotten in trouble for but breaking and entering never looked good. Ichigo, however, remained quiet. Was that the go ahead or not? If he gets mad he gets mad.

"Well, we actually met at the convenience store I work at. It's a bit of an odd story," she said, gripping the railing of the hospital bed. "H-he had actually broken in through the backdoor to steal some food but I walked in on him to open the store just as he was about to run. He tripped and knocked over a wire shelf of chips and got his foot stuck in it."

"He broke into a store?" Isshin answered in a deep voice, casting his eyes back down at Ichigo with a hard glare.

"Yeah, he… He was only there for food. He was going to be in jail for four months but I felt bad and managed to get it reduced to 2 months in jail and 2 month community service. He just finished that last bit at the end of last month," Orihime said, keeping her eyes off the Kurosaki patriarch.

"Let me get this straight. He breaks into the store you work at to steal food, you somehow get him a lighter sentence because you felt sorry for him, and then you started dating him once he's out of prison?" The man looked very bewildered.

"Yes…" she blushed.

"Have you got a screw loose?"

"Not the first time I've been asked that."

Isshin let out a bit of an aggravated sigh and set his jaw. That was one hell of a way to start a relationship. He stared down at his son who was stuck between dreamland and the waking world. He never heard anything about this. No doubt Ichigo had wanted it that way. Oh, well, it was now out in the open. To say Isshin was disappointed would be an understatement. He was sure Ichigo knew better than that. He shook his head a little thinking over what the young woman had just told him. He really was disappointed in his son's actions.

His mind then switched to how his son actually ended up here. He got the major details that he was mauled by the tiger that's running around town but how? Clearly he was outside last night but why and where was he when the attack happened? That he didn't get. He had gotten the call from the hospital and not the police. No doubt his new girlfriend had answers to those questions.

"Explain what happened last night," Isshin ordered as she let a long breath. "Why was he outside in the first place?"

There really was a large gap between father and son. Orihime rubbed the back of her neck and backed up to take the chair behind her. They had lost more contact with each other than she had thought. She looked up at Isshin with a bit of a sad face.

"Well, you see… Ichigo sort of lives… In a tent by the river…" she mumbled in a low volume.

"In a tent by the river…" Isshin slowly repeated in an icy tone. His jaw clinched as did his hands into tight fists. "You mean to tell me, that he's been… He's been homeless this whole time!"

Ichigo, even half asleep, flinched just a smidgen at the sound of his father's angered voice. Orihime slid back in her chair a bit surprised. Yeah, this was not going over so well. There was no point in hiding anything now. She brushed back a lock of her tawny hair behind her ear and faced Isshin. It all had to come out in the open now and hiding the truth would only make things worse.

Swallowing the hard, heavy knot in her throat she finally started to tell Isshin everything she knew about Ichigo from time when he first stormed out to how he got mauled by the tiger. Isshin just stood and listened, only asking the needed questions. Isshin really had no idea about this whole mess. He figured was still switching between friends, hopefully with a job. That wish was blown clear out of the water. He had no idea about any of this and he hated that this was how he had to find out.

For three years he knew nothing of his son and it ate at every heartstring he had. When Ichigo first left he tried to keep tabs on him but the boy let Isshin know real quickly to back off and leave him alone. Isshin eventually listened and stopped calling. It nearly killed Isshin that day when Ichigo stormed out. The amount of anger his son had scared him. He'd never seen Ichigo so infuriated before. The boy had been in a near blind rage, even turning his anger towards his sisters for no good reason.

An hour or so ticked by and the doctor that did the surgery arrived to talk to them. Information was traded between them and after 15 or so minutes the doctor left, telling them once Ichigo was little more with it and they a room cleared he would be moved to the 5th floor.

Both Isshin and Orihime stayed with Ichigo. It was about 3 hours before he was loaded onto an elevator and moved upstairs. Over those three hours Ichigo started to come a bit more aware of his surroundings. Orihime and even Isshin noticed that he wasn't quite right. His mannerisms had changed and he came off as rather aloof. He had strange tolerance for people and things going on around him.

Orihime explained to Isshin that's how he was when she first saw him today and that when he was discovered by some of his friends by river he acted the same way. That worried Isshin quite a bit not mention Orihime. So far she was the only one really allowed to touch him. The nurses and doctors had to ask permission and explain what they would be doing. It was a really odd behavior for him.

* * *

A week went by and Ichigo's wounds were healing well, some might even say too well. They were closing faster than they'd ever believe. That left the nurses and doctors scratching their heads. Even the large bruise he received on his chest was nearly a distant memory. However, his attitude did little improving. He was still ready to take people heads off at the drop of a hat. During that week he had seen a psychiatrist and neurologist to see if they could find something that was trigging his strange mood swings. The neurologist found not damage to his brain and the psychiatrist really couldn't explain it either.

She described Ichigo as almost being a bit animalistic. She could only hypothesize it being a form of mental trauma like some form of PTSD. He was attacked by a vicious creature and in response started to act the same way to a degree. It may even be a coping mechanism she also offered. She really had no answers but said that possibly with therapy and time Ichigo might bounce back to being himself.

Of course it was time for Ichigo to go home. However, which home was the big question. The clear and logical choice would be home with his father. His father was a licensed and practicing MD. He had a secure home, access to medical supplies, and a good income to support Ichigo during recovery. However, Ichigo would rather cut off his arms and legs than go live with his father. That of course left Orihime, who made just enough money to support herself and she lived in a very small apartment. But Ichigo tolerated her above all other people. If he stayed with his father he would get the proper care he needed but would be miserable. If he stayed with Orihime, care would be limited but he would be happy. It was a damn if one does and damn if one doesn't.

In fact Isshin and Orihime even had a heated debate over that, in Ichigo's room no less. What was better for him; the young man's health or his happiness? Ichigo settled that quickly. Needless to say Orihime won the custody battle and Isshin ended up with a lump on the back of his head where Ichigo tossed his large plastic water jug at him. They did, however, come up with a consensus. Ichigo would stay and live with Orihime but Isshin would come over daily to maintain and take care of Ichigo's wounds until they were completely healed. Much to Ichigo's disliking.

Ichigo was finally released from the hospital late in the morning. It was a cloudy day with a chance of storms that evening. The air was hot and muggy as Ichigo was rolled up to a waiting cab. He was helped into the backseat with what little belongings he had with him. Orihime got in on the other side and made sure he was comfortable. The door was closed and the directions were given to the cabby.

The ride was pretty quiet as Ichigo rested his head on her shoulder. Once at the apartment Ichigo needed help out of the cab. Thankfully Orihime lived on the bottom floor and only had to take one step up. She unlocked the door as he hobbled in using the wall for support.

"Well, this is it," she smiled, closing the door behind her as he looked around. "You might notice a couple of changes to the place. Your father was kind enough to supply us with a bigger sofa bed and a role away while you recover. Urahara was nice enough to give me what little belongs you had. I got all your clothes washed and they're hanging up on the left side of the closet. Your dad even gave us that little dining table with the two chairs. He'll bring over a wheelchair for you this evening when he comes to change your bandages."

"Take me to the couch," was all he said as Orihime supported him over to the new couch.

He flopped down on the slate grey couch, putting his injured leg up on the seat. She grabbed a couple new throw pillows and put them under his ankle to give a little more height.

"Want anything to drink or eat?" he inquired as he shook his head. "Want a blanket or another pillow?"

He shook his head again and she sighed. He really wasn't himself. The attack really did mess with him. She opted to turn on the TV to get some sound in the room, considering Ichigo wasn't talking. The first thing that came on was mid-day news.

"Here's the remote," she said, handing him the control to the TV. "Change it to whatever you want."

Ichigo only sat it down on the armrest. He seemed to like the news a lot she noticed. Of course Ichigo made the news this past week a couple of times. He was the first mauling reported and the only person to survive a mauling. The other attacks officials concluded had just been done the jaguar. However, no one had really spotted the jaguar or the tiger since their great escape. In fact Ichigo was the only confirmed attack by the large orange cat. Tiger hair had been found on his shirt and shorts.

Officials believed that the tiger might have just wanted to show Ichigo who was boss and just roughed him good to prove his point. They also feared that the large cat may have decided to swim down the river and out of the city, which would explain why only Ichigo had been attacked. Although it was weird she had concluded. Ichigo was the first person to be attacked, he's the only person to survive an attack, and he was the only one assaulted by the tiger.

It was very odd, even Isshin had picked up on it. Orihime shook her head a bit and turned towards the kitchen. She felt bad giving him that pet name now. In fact she hadn't even called him tiger once since the attack, feeling that would be in bad taste and insensitive to him. She went to the fridge and started to find things to make lunch with.

She looked over at Ichigo to see him staring blankly at the TV. She wanted some real reaction out of him. He was just so dull if he wasn't yelling. She turned to look at the top of the fridge, spotting the board games she had. She closed the fridge and pulled down a deck of cards and the checkerboard with its pieces. She walked over to him and he just continued to stare at the small screen.

"Hey, Ichigo, I've got an idea. Let's play a game, okay?" she said, holding up the items as he turned to look at her. "I've got checkers and some playing cards."

Once again he shook his head and her heart sank. She walked back over to the fridge and put the items back up. She opened the fridge again and started going back to making herself some lunch. A couple minutes later she walked over to the couch, taking the last cushion. She had a small salad in her hands. Ichigo still hadn't really bothered to take his eyes off the TV.

This cold shoulder business of his was getting to her. She didn't like him being so indifferent and disinterested to things he had enjoyed. It really stung her deep down. She wanted her Ichigo back. That tiger might not have taken Ichigo's life but it took his spirit so it seemed. She lost her appetite before she even started eating. She set the bowl down on the table next to the lamp. She folded her hands in her lap and looked down at them.

She had hoped his temperament would have changed some when he got out of the hospital but he was still just as cold. Something was very wrong with him. He was a completely different person and it was breaking her heart. Her vision started the blur a bit as tears started to build. Soon little droplets fell, making tiny puddles on her hands. The pain in her heart was real and if felt like nothing could alleviate it.

She then stood and went to leave for the bathroom but to her surprise she found a leg blocking her path. She stopped and turned to look at him. His face was blank as he looked up at her. She wasn't sure what this meant. She rubbed her eyes a little trying to dry them.

"I will get better," he said, putting his leg back on the floor again.

What did that mean? She stared at him for a bit, before shaking her head and walked towards the bathroom. She shut the door and walked over to the sink. She turned on the faucet and splashed a little cold water on her burning eyes. She had no idea what that even remotely meant. It was rather cryptic, honestly.

"What did that mean?" she whispered, turning off the faucet and grabbed the hand towel to dry her hands and face. She then put it back on the holder. "I don't get it. I just don't."

She walked out, turning off the light. Ichigo was still sitting motionless for the most part. She walked back over and picked up the salad. She might as well put it away. She covered the bowl and put it back in the fridge. She could only hope that with time he would once again become the man she loved.

* * *

Orihime sat up in the dark on her sofa bed. The power had gone out a minute ago. The only sound was that of the rain and wind, assaulting the window and the loud rolls of thunder. She pulled her knees closer to her body as a bright flash of lightning lit up the apartment for half a second. She was due to get up in a couple of hours to go to work. She had already missed too many days with having to deal with Ichigo.

She was lucky enough that she didn't lose her job and that her boss didn't press charges against Ichigo for trespassing. Her boss could be a real jerk but it was nice to know he wasn't a total ass. She sighed as a loud clap of thunder rattled the window and a few other items in the apartment. This was turning out to be a rather bad storm. She hoped it would let up by the time she went to work. She really didn't like walking in the rain. Her shoes weren't too water proof and usually the hem of her pants got soaked. Not to mention—

"Princess."

"EEEEYAAAAGH!"

She scrambled to back up from the sudden voice and she folded into a tight ball. Her heart was pounding in her ears from the sudden scare. She could vaguely make out a figure beside her. When did he…? She unfolded her body and huffed a bit.

"Jeez! Ichigo, don't do that! I didn't even feel you get on the bed," she snapped, holding a hand over her racing heart. "Wh-what is it? Is something wrong?"

He scooted a little closer and to her complete surprise he sat his head down in her lap. He then grabbed her hand and placed it on the top of his head. She blinked. What in the…?

"Pet me," he said as she sat there a little stunned.

"Uh, okay," she muttered and started stroking the top of his orange head.

This was really odd. For the majority of the day he barely gave her the time of the day. Why now? Was it the storm? No way, that would be silly. She shook her head. Right now there was no understanding him. She was just happy that he finally was showing a little interest in her. She continued to pet him for a while until she started feeling groggy again. She readjusted herself so she was lying back down on the bed beside him. She stroked his head little bit more before finally falling asleep again.

* * *

Another week crept by very slowly but towards the end of the week Ichigo's showed signs of mentally improving. He was starting to be a little more interested in things once again and was finally starting to talk a bit more. Needless to say it was a huge relief to Orihime and Isshin. With luck and a little more time hopefully Ichigo would be Ichigo again.

Ichigo's wounds, however, were baffling Isshin. They were healing fast. A little too fast, honestly. The kind of wounds his son sustained should take several months to heal up properly but they were already half way closed up in only two weeks. It really left Isshin scratching his head. He was happy that the wounds were closing but he was also a little scared. He had never seen anything like this. He had seen many vicious wounds caused by dogs and a few looked worse than what the tiger had left in Ichigo. Yet none of them healed this fast. So this was really an odd mystery.

Orihime also took notice of a few odd things with Ichigo. She recalled Ichigo having a bit of a toned body but now he had a _really_ toned body. Over the last couple of weeks while hardly doing anything he just built muscle. Not large bulking muscles found in body builders but they were indeed a lot more defined and noticeable. She didn't mind it. Not one bit but it was odd for him to bulk up like that doing nothing.

She also noticed an odd change in his diet. He was still eating stuff he normally ate but his appetite had gotten bigger. He also had been craving a heavier protein diet. He still ate fruits, veggies, starches, and grains but… She often found him just eating sandwich meats or canned meat when she turned from work. It bugged her as to why he started having such an odd craving.

He also liked to have his head petted—a lot. Like he had done the first night, he would put his head on her lap and she would start running her fingers through his shaggy hair. It had become a nightly routine. That also brought up another thing. His hair had grown quite a bit too. Honestly, he could do with a haircut and sometime soon.

Despite the odd things Ichigo was indeed slowly coming back to normal. Orihime was happy about that. In fact, since he was in a better mood she had decided to have a friend come over for a day. She hadn't talked to Tatsuki in a good while. She, however, sort of neglected to tell Tatsuki about her new roommate. Needless to say the tomboy was taken aback by the sight of a man in a wheelchair occupying Orihime's apartment.

"Who the hell are you?" the woman snapped, pointing at Ichigo. He didn't seem to keen to have a finger pointed at him.

"Tatsuki, that's Kurosaki Ichigo! We went to school with him, remember?" Orihime said, pushing Tatsuki's hand down. "He was the moody guy that sat in the back of the class."

"Huh?" Tatsuki blinked, inching a little closer to study him. "Hey, wait... Is this the homeless man you mentioned taking care of a while ago; the one that broke into the store?"

Orihime sheepishly nodded.

"Why's he in your apartment?" Tatsuki inquired, sharply.

Ichigo's face soured more and Orihime tried to avoid a fight by getting between them. Ichigo was still rather ill-tempered and she didn't need a fight on her hands. Hopefully, she could defuse the bomb before it went off.

"Tatsuki, don't you watch the news? He was the man attacked by the tiger down by the river," Orihime said quickly. "I offered to take care of him while he heals up!"

The dark haired woman looked flabbergasted at her friend. Was Orihime serious? Wait… Hold on. Tatsuki crossed her arms and looked between the two people before her. A sly, knowing grin pulled on the corners of her mouth. Uh-huh. Okay, she got it.

"You're dating each other, aren't you?" Tatsuki blurted out as Orihime's cheeks lit up pink. "Ha! You are! You didn't tell me you were actually seeing him like that. I thought you just sort of befriended the guy."

"Well… It started off that way," Orihime sheepishly rubbed the back of her head.

"Started off that way, huh? Should have known better," Tatsuki said, unfolding her arms and put her hands on her hips. "So, Kurosaki, right?"

Ichigo nodded once and Tatsuki looked at him rather puzzled. He hadn't said anything since she walked in the door. She found it odd even for a quiet person. She started to recall him a little more now that she really looked at him.

"Tell me something. You are treating her well, right?" Tatsuki chided and put a hand on Orihime's head. "Orihime's a bit of delicate flower and don't want her to wither away because you're not tending to her properly."

"Tatsuki," Orihime whined.

"You've got quite a mouth," Ichigo drawled, his glare narrowing.

"So you can talk, glad to know it," she said, taking a step forward. "Well, you never answered me. You are taking good care of her, right?"

"I am."

"Yeah? Okay… You are going to help her out when you get better, right? You know get a job and all that."

"I plan to do so."

"Good, good. She's really given you a lot. I want to make sure it's not a one-way street between you two."

"I will get better and I will protect her."

"Now _that's_ what I want to hear," Tatsuki gave Ichigo a wide grin. "I'll hold you to that, Kurosaki. She's a delicate flower, remember? Never forget that."

He nodded. Orihime sighed, looking between them. Hopefully, things will continue to go smoothly this evening. Grant it tension was there between them but hopefully that would ebb away soon enough. She wanted Tatsuki and Ichigo to get along and be friends too. She didn't want her boyfriend and her best friend to be enemies because she would be stuck between them. If that happened she knew she could never pick a side. She crossed her fingers and hoped for the best.

* * *

Another week went by and Ichigo's attitude started to improve even more. He wasn't nearly as ill-tempered and he was clearly staring to enjoy things and talking a lot more. His wounds were nearly closed to everyone surprise. This just floored and stumped Isshin to no end. He had no way to explain it. Even the doctor that performed the surgery was just in awe at the condition Ichigo was in. He had never seen anything or anyone like Ichigo before.

They took x-rays of Ichigo's chest and found no broken bones. On a hunch the plaster cast on his wrist was sawed off and an x-ray was taken. That too had healed up nicely. Needless to say Ichigo was a medical marvel. They concluded that in another week his wounds would be gone all together. Ichigo welcomed that because that would mean getting out and start hunting for a job.

He was really looking forward to that as was Orihime. She was really struggling to keep everything a float with Ichigo living with her. Once Ichigo secured a job she knew things would be a lot easier on the both of them. They could afford more food, which was something Ichigo was still digging into a lot.

Another week flew by and Ichigo's wounds were closed, only leaving pink marks were the new skin sat. No doubt there would still be a lot of scarring but everything seemed fine. In fact he didn't even need physical therapy, which they figured he would need. But his muscles and ligaments were all intact and completely healed. It was almost like the mauling never happened.

Ichigo started job hunting the moment his doctor gave him a clean bill of health. Ichigo had a new vigor to him that Orihime had never seen before. He was really searching this time and trying different options. That made her happy to see him out and about. Given what he was like just a month earlier, she was just tickled pink with the change.

Ichigo had bounced back just fine it seemed. He started doing his usual routine of meeting up with her at the café when she got off work. He would tell her about where he applied for a job and what the job entailed should he get it. He really was like a whole new person even from before the attack. She really liked this new Ichigo.

But despite how things were going between them something just seemed off. She couldn't put her finger on it. Everything was the same but yet different. He still had this thing for wanting her to stroke the top of his head, which she didn't mind really but it was still odd. He also did this thing where he would hug her from behind and rub his head on her shoulders. Sometime she'd feel his teeth lightly slide long her skin and she loved it. Apparently, it was his way of reciprocating.

Even his personality she also noticed wasn't quite right. She took notice that Ichigo suddenly wasn't overly fond of animals. Before he would pet a dog and play with someone's cat. Now he didn't like them and the feeling was mutual. Dogs would start barking at him for no reason ready for a fight, playing a fierce tug-of-war with their owners'. Or sometimes the dogs would cower in absolute fear as Ichigo walked by them. The owners could not explain it and would apologize for their pets' strange behavior.

He also had this strange habit of disappearing in the middle of the night every so often when she was asleep. He would return a little dishevel from his strange walks, that usually lasted an hour or so. His hands and feet would be rather dirty when he got back. When she would catch him she would ask him where he had been and how he got so dirty. He would merely say that he went out walking and would stop to see his old friends from the camp. He explained that the new area that they relocated to wasn't very clean. Orihime wasn't too sure of the excuse but took it anyway. She just couldn't figure out why he had to go visit them in the dead of night.

* * *

The big cats were still at large in the small town. The tiger showed up again recently after being gone for a month or so. The tiger, however, was more or less going after tray cats and dogs. There were only a couple of people that he actually attacked. The jaguar was the problem cat. He had raked in a body count of 23 and counting. Police and zoo officials were trying to come up with traps for these cats but for some odd reason none of them worked. The only things they ever caught were the usual stray cats, dogs, and other city scavengers. Apparently, the big cats were smart. Really smart. Perhaps, too smart.

A curfew had been placed on the city for people to not be out after dark and to not make any unneeded trips. Basically, if there was no reason to be out don't go out. The city's officials spent some money to install new cameras around town to see if they could find where the cats were hiding. They had made the video feeds live so that the residents could watch on the city's webpage. That still brought no luck in locating or even spotting one of them.

An odd trend picked up around town too. As a way to safe guard themselves people took to wearing masks on the backs of their heads especially those that had to be out after curfew. It was a known fact that tigers were least likely to go after prey once it's been spotted. The idea was to basically have eyes on the back of one's head. However, people were still being attacked regardless.

A small group from the military eventually came out to the city to see if they could locate the large cats. They brought all manner of gadgets to see in the dark and they even had several dogs trained to trace the scent of the cats. However, the large cats remained elusive. In fact one of them had even somehow crept into the camp and found its way into the dog pen no less. However, by the time the men rushed over to see what the ruckus had been, they just caught a glimpse of the white jaguar jumping out of the pen. They fired at the animal but it ran off. The hunting dogs were decimated and more than half of them were already dead or bleeding out. It was at this time that the cats even had the military spooked. They were smart, too smart.

* * *

Another month ticked by and Ichigo had managed to get hired at a newspaper plant. He wasn't overly fond of the job in fact he down right _hated_ it. He was already looking for another job to get out of it. He couldn't stand the smell of the ink and the machines. Not to mention the noise really got to him too. By the time he got home in the early morning hours he was covered in a thin layer of ink and he was usually in a rather ill mood.

Orihime didn't like him working a night job but it was a job that made money. Ichigo, however, liked working nights; it was just the job he didn't like. She tried to convince him to take a day job instead, do to the animal attacks that were still going on. She worried about him but he told her every night as he went to work that he would be fine. She couldn't understand how he was so calm about it. After all he had already been attacked by the tiger and he should know better than anyone what those monsters were capable of.

One night, however, she was particularly worried and for good reason. There had been an attack near the newspaper plant Ichigo worked at. She was nothing but a bundle of nerves after she heard the news. A lot of times he couldn't hear his cellphone over the roar of the presses. She opted to stay up that night until he got home. As it was she wasn't working that morning so there wouldn't be any repercussions.

The hours ticked by and in an effort to calm her nerves she opted to take a bath. She washed herself off and then hoped in the warm tub of water. She tried to take her mind off the attack. If it had been Ichigo again she would have already gotten a call. So that was a little encouraging. She leaned back and slid down to where the water's suffice covered her rosy lips. She blew a couple small bubbles that quickly popped under her nose.

 _Hopefully Ichigo will be home soon. This is about the time he gets back assuming his not working over. I hope he's not working over,_ she mused, folding her hands over her creamy stomach. _I don't like this waiting around. I thought taking a bath would help but—hm?_

 **Click**

Orihime sat up with a splash as she saw the bathroom door open. Ash blue eyes quickly met chocolate. He was home and he safe. She quickly leaned over the side of the tub as he walked into the small room. His skin, hair, and work uniform stained with black ink. He was a total mess. He smiled down at her as she looked up at him.

"Sorry to intrude on you," he said, rubbing the back of his head. "I can wait outside."

"N-no! Uh…" she said, reaching out to him and flush a good bit. "I-I don't mind if you…"

"No, it's fine! You can fin—" he reached for the door handle.

"I don't mind! I want you to stay!"

"Orihime? A-are you okay?"

"No, I'm not! Ichigo, there was an attack near your job earlier this evening! I tried calling you a few times but you… I… I so worried about you. I just… Please, don't go."

"Orihime…"

She cast her eyes down, looking at the wet tile floor. She didn't want him to leave right now. She was just so happy to know he was fine. She didn't want to lose sight of him. She bit her bottom lip as she felt him approach her. She raised her head to look at him, gripping the smooth edge of the tub. He leaned over and kissed her on the forehead. She calmed a bit, feeling his warm touch on her.

"Princess, if you let me leave long enough to get a towel and I'll join you," he grinned with a wink.

Her blush intensified and sent a heatwave through her whole body. Ichigo was going to join her? In the bath? Come to think of it… Other than the night of the mugging they had never really—messed around. He turned on his heel and walked out, leaving the door partially cracked. Her heart started to quicken as she watched the door like a hawk. It finally flung open and Ichigo walked in with a fresh towel and he hung it up on hers. He undid the buttons on his blackened blue shirt and then took it off.

Orihime watched him undress, hiding her red face a little behind the tub wall. He really was a fine specimen of a man. His physique really had changed now that she looking at him with a lot less cover. He was still very lean but was very well chiseled. His scares were still very visible on his shoulder and lower right leg. Her heart was just going a mile a minute as he pulled off the last of his clothes and dropped them onto the rest of the pile. He smiled at her as she just stared at everything he had.

"You know…" he breathed as she titled her head up little to look at his face. "If you help me wash up I'll be in the tub faster."

She pushed off the wall a bit as he took a couple step towards the stool by the drain and showerhead. What a tease! She pulled her legs under her body and stood with a quick splash. She stepped onto the cool floor and closed the gap between them. He smiled at her.

"Ha! I left a bit of ink on your forehead," he pointed out as he sat down.

She reached up and rubbed her forehead. The tips of her fingers were a pale black. He turned on the faucet and the shower turned on. She walked over and grabbed a washcloth. She handed it to him and he started to scrub the black ink from his hands.

"You want to wash my body or my hair?" he teased, looking up at her.

"You're loving this, aren't you?" she asked, putting his hands on her hips.

"And you're not?" he grinned, rinsing out the washcloth. "What's your choice, Princess?"

She sighed. So she had two options. Well, she knew one thing for sure. She was tired of petting. She grabbed the cloth adding more soap and leathered it. She started on his shoulders slowly working her way down his lean chest. He started to wash his hair. As she scrubbed his skin the more anxious she became. This was almost cruel. Almost. She continued scrubbing every one of his muscles, studying how the water cascaded off him. This was just eating at her. She wanted his touch on her. She wanted his hands to slide over her curves and hold her.

She then felt his hand under her chin. He tilted her head up and kissed her deeply on the lips. She quickly wrapped her arms around his neck as she felt him pick her up by her thighs to sit on his lap. The warm water from the shower rained down on them completely ignored. They exchanged many different fevered kisses as their hands slid smoothly over each other's wet skin.

It wasn't long before Orihime found herself on her back with Ichigo hoovering over her. Both of them where breathing heavy. His bright orange hair dripped water onto her flushed faced. She swallowed a heavy knot and pushed a bit of her long hair from her face.

"Princess…" he breathed heavily, bringing his face closer to hers. Their noses lightly touching. "I need to…"

"Yes?" she asked, squirming under him.

"There's…" his voice locked in his throat. "There's something you need to…"

There was a look of apprehension on his face. Was there something wrong? She wrapped her arms around his middle, pulling him closer to her so that stomachs touched. Whatever it was it could wait. She licked her lips and kissed him again pushing her tongue into his mouth. He played with the offered muscle for a moment before pulling back.

"Princess, please…" he gasped for a bit of air. "I just… I'm not what you think…"

"Ichigoooo," she moaned, wrapping her legs around his waist. "If you can't say it—don't. Just please… I want it! Stop teasing me!"

"D-do you accept me as I am?" he choked out, grabbing her head with his hands. She blinked a bit, looking into worried chocolate brown eyes.

"What are you…?"

"Do you accept me completely?"

"I'm on the bathroom floor, soaking wet. What do you think, silly?"

"I need to hear you say it. Will you accept me as I truly am and not just what you see?"

"Ichigo, you're killing the mood… Fine! Yes, I accept everything that you are! Every little fault and mistake you have! And, yes, I mean it from the very bottom of my heart! Now before you open your mouth again…"

She kissed him and wriggled her hips against him. She wasn't going to let this moment pass her by. He teased her, damn it. She was going to get something out of him as compensation. He adjusted himself as she braced herself for his love.

* * *

Two wet naked forms heaved on the white tile floor on the small bathroom. The water from the shower was now running cold and no doubt the water in the tub was barely lukewarm. They rested parallel to each other, catching their breath from their previous euphoria. They had gone two rounds practically back to back.

Orihime was shocked. He wasn't this passionate the first time and it was nice to know he could be. She walked her fingers along the floor and took his strong hand into hers. In returned he picked up her hand and brought to his lips. He then sat up and crawled over to the faucet and turned off the icy water.

"Water bill's going to be a bit high this month," he joked, pushing his wet locks from his face. "But worth the price."

"Hmhmhm!" Orihime chuckled, pushing herself up onto her elbows. Her wet hair clung to her shoulders and back. "Ichigo…"

He turned to face her again as she sat up completely on her rump and patted her lap. He crawled back over to her putting his head down as she started to comb through his hair with her fingers. She had been so worried about him last night and it was nice to have him here with her. He was safe right here with her. She honestly didn't want this moment to end.

"Princess…" he said, rolling his head over to look up at her.

"Yes?" she hummed with a smile.

"Will you…? I mean…" his face was a bright pink as he reached up and stopped her petting. "Will be my princess?"

"I already am."

"No… I mean my real princess," he choked out, sitting up so their faces were level.

"I-Ichigo…" she flushed. "What?"

He grabbed her hands into his as her flush grew brighter. Even he was a bright red. His hands were shaking something terrible. Was he actually asking…? Her heart was just beating a mile a minute and clearly his was too.

"I want you to be my princess! I want you to rule me! To love me!"

"I-I-Ichigo! I don't…"

"Please! In return I'll be your guardian tiger! I'll protect and serve you and only you. Please, Inoue Orihime, will you be my princess?"

Orihime stared at him wide-eyed and slack-jawed. They had barely known each half a year and he was already asking her this question? Her heart was pounding so hard it felt like it was about to jump out of her chest. Was this just from the heat of the moment or did really mean it? Here he was on the bathroom floor of all places, proposing to her. She looked hard into his eyes. He meant it. He really loved her that much. She looked down at his quivering hands that held hers. She knew her answer. She quickly cast her eyes back to his face and a wide smile stretched across her face.

"Yes, I will be _your_ princess!"

(A/N Now that was a long chapter! Over 11,000 words. Wow! I'm glad that's out of the way. So, tell me what you think! Please leave a review! Thank you!)

Millie M. Banshee


	3. Cat

The Princess and the Tiger

Chapter 3

Cat

(A/N Well, I'm still chucking this out. I've already got an idea on how to end this! I will most likely not be this chapter as I had planned. Big shock there but hey, it's still going to be a short. Onward with the story.)

 **SOUNDS/sounds**

 _Thoughts_

* * *

(Last Time)

Orihime stared at him wide-eyed and slack-jawed. They had barely known each half a year and he was already asking her this question? Her heart was pounding so hard it felt like it was about to jump out of her chest. Was this just from the heat of the moment or did really mean it? Here he was on the bathroom floor of all places, proposing to her. She looked hard into his eyes. He meant it. He really loved her that much. She looked down at his quivering hands that held hers. She knew her answer. She quickly cast her eyes back to his face and a wide smile stretched across hers.

"Yes, I will be _your_ princess!"

* * *

(Present)

Orihime was engaged and she was just beside herself. Grant it she knew it would still be a good long while before the actual wedding. Both she and Ichigo couldn't afford it the moment but they were making plans to save up. Orihime had no relationship whatsoever with her parents but she tried to call them to at least tell them the good news. All she got was drunken tongue lashing. So much for that. Her elder brother, Sora, had passed away a couple of years due to back car accident. So she had no other family she could brag to but she her two close friends.

Tatsuki was happy for her and was really surprised to hear about the engagement so soon. Her other friend Uryu wasn't too keen on the idea of her getting engaged so soon. He lectured Orihime on the dangers of getting engaged and married too soon. She explained that the actual wedding wouldn't be for a long time yet so they still had time to work on their relationship. He still wasn't happy about the news.

"I still don't like it," Uryu said flatly, picking up a small box of straight pins from the shelf.

"Uryu, really, it's not what you think," Orihime said, fiddling with one of his measuring tapes. "I realize it's soon but like what I said, we've got time. Neither one of us can afford a wedding right now."

He pushed up his thin rectangular glasses and walked over to a tailored suit, sitting by a sowing machine. Uryu was a professional tailor by trade and worked on men's suits. He was good at his craft. Good enough in fact that he made enough money to open a tiny shop of his own a year ago.

"Reason with me all you want but I stand by what I said, Orihime," Uryu said, sitting down at his station and started to pull pins from the pants' hem. "I don't remember him too much from school other than he was temperamental, like to pick fights, and liked to smack talk others. I really didn't care for him. I also don't like the fact the he broke into the store you work at and that he was homeless for a good long while. It shows bad ethics."

"Yeah, but… He really has changed since that attack. Grant it, his record has kept him from getting any really good paying jobs but…" she walked over to him and sat down the measuring tape. "He is a good person. I know he is and he really does love and care about me."

Uryu let out a long breath and rolled his eyes.

"I just don't want you to get hurt by him. Rushing into something like marriage never ends well for anyone," he stated, turning his blue eyes to look at her. "I would like to say I'm happy for you, but truthfully, I'm not. I don't want to see you get hurt if all of this falls apart. I know how you are."

"Uryu, please, I know this will work out between us. I can feel it," she said, putting her hand over her heart. "You just don't know him yet but he really is a good person. Yes, he did make a few bad choices in the past but nobody is perfect."

"You've already heard my piece on the matter and I don't need to repeat myself," Uryu stated, turning back to the pants leg, sitting half in his lap.

"Tatsuki liked the idea," Orihime huffed. "She was happy for me."

"Good for her."

"You really don't like the idea of me getting engaged?"

"No, I don't. I'm sorry but I'm not sold on the idea and it's a mistake."

"Uryu… Just get to know him first, okay, and you'll see."

Uryu just pursed his lips and shook his head. Orihime sighed. Uryu was stubborn like this at times and usually for good reason. He was smart and had a pretty good judge of character but Orihime knew he was wrong this time.

"I don't know what else to say," she tilted her head to look at the carpeted floor. "Just… I hope that you change your mind about him. I'll let you get back to work."

She turned on her heel and walked out of the small workshop. Uryu heard the bell over the door as she walked out of the store. In a fury he grabbed the box of straight pins and threw them at the wall. The box exploded on impact and little silver spears littered the floor in a good radius. He jerked off his glass and covered his face his with hands. He drew in a shaky breath.

"Idiot! I'm just a stupid idiot!"

* * *

News of the engagement wasn't well received in Kurosaki household either. Father and son once again did not see eye to eye. Isshin liked the girl he really did. She was kind, caring, and easy on the eyes but he felt it was far too soon to be making such plans. Ichigo, however, was very adamant about his decision in marrying Orihime. Isshin was not same wagon.

"It's my life and my choice," Ichigo bit out.

"Which I _do_ understand. I really do but don't you think you've jumped the gun on this?" Isshin asked, taking a seat on the couch in the living room. "You really need to think about your future. Right now all this sounds good but…"

"I am thinking about my future and she's in it," Ichigo snapped, standing in front of his father. "I want her in my life. I want to keep her in my life."

"Ichigo…" Isshin sighed, rubbing the bridge his nose. "Marriage is built on a strong relationship and those take time. Half a year is not long at all. You could have at least waited a year and really gotten to know her."

"We're not getting married any time soon."

"Still an engagement is a promise. A promise of the heart and it can be costly if broken."

"I have no intention of breaking it."

"I hope not for both your sakes. Hmm… If it's really your choice I suppose I can't stop you. Still doesn't mean I agree but it is like you said. It is your life and your choice."

"You're not going to argue about it?"

"What would that amount to? All you'll do is storm out of the house again if we did. It's taken you three years to walk back through that door. I don't want to lose you again."

Ichigo looked down at his father a little wide eyed. He felt his heart clinch in his chest and a pang of guilt in his stomach. Obviously, his father did take the fight and rejection hard. Ichigo knew it but he had wanted to deny it. Seeing it on his father's face he just… Ichigo knew he was wrong. He had three years away from his old man. He had three years to think back on that horrible fight. All this stemmed back from when he was nine and his mother died. Or rather killed.

Isshin was running late that day. He ended with a real emergency on his hands and couldn't pick his son and his wife up on time from his son's karate class. It had been raining all day and instead of waiting in the rain Masaki decided to walk home with Ichigo. It wasn't too far. They were on the sidewalk when a car hydroplaned, cutting a corner and hit his mother, killing her almost instantly. Now the man that was driving the car was charged with her death but Ichigo still put the blame on his father for not being there to pick them up on time.

Really, looking back on it, it was no one's fault other than the reckless driver. His dad was doing his job and his mom did what she thought was best. He just couldn't get the "what if" out his head. What if his father had been on time, would his mom still be here? He knew his anger was wrong but he sat on that anger for years and it just grew and grew into something nasty. It grew into hate, loathing. Even coming to rationalize it over the years he still had animosity towards his dad. He couldn't just drop it. It was like Urahara had said, people make themselves the victim when they aren't one and dig a hole too deep to climb out of.

Ichigo ran a hand through his bright orange hair and let out a long breath. He had broken the trust with his father and that was going to take time to rebuild. He burned a lot of bridges. Far more than he may have meant to and they wouldn't be rebuilt in a day.

"So that's it then?" Ichigo asked.

"Guess so," Isshin shrugged. "I'm not going to stop you. You're an adult. I don't have any power over you. If you want to marry her it's up to you. I just want you think about the consequence of rushing things."

"Like I said it will take time before we can even think about actually getting married. Low funds and all that."

"Please, do take that time. Life is short, don't rush through it."

"Yeah…"

"Next time when you come over, do so when your sisters are here. I'm sure they'd be happy to see you here in the house."

"Hm. I guess you're right."

"You going to stay for a bit or do you have to leave?"

"I need to get home. I got off work and really never did get any sleep this morning."

"Okay," Isshin nodded. "I'm glad you decided to come by. I don't want to nag but try to come over a little more often. You've been gone for three years and that's long enough. Also, when you feel like it, go through your stuff up in your old room."

Ichigo grunted a bit and turned to walk toward the front door. He gave his dad a small wave and the man returned it. Ichigo opened the door and walked out of his old family home. The summer sun beat down on him as he started down the sidewalk. He knew his father didn't argue because he wanted to make sure he kept his distance. He wanted to make sure Ichigo had his breathing room. He was thankful for that.

He continued down a couple city blocks, lost in his thoughts. He thought about what his father had said and what sort of future he wanted with Orihime. An engagement was a promise of the heart and so was marriage. Marriage was a promise of not just the heart but of trust, loyalty, honor, truth, and life. His pace slowed some thinking about that as worry started to settle in his heart. He hadn't been truthful with her. He was hiding something from her. Something big and powerful.

He had tried to tell her this morning but… He couldn't say it. He couldn't tell her. He made her say that she accepted all of him but she had no idea what she was accepting. It was the heat of the moment. Second thoughts stabbed at his mind. He wanted to be with her but could he? Could he really be with her being… What he was…? He was lying to her. He was hiding from her. Could he keep hiding? If he slipped up, what then? Would she understand and still love him? Or would she shun him and be horrified?

"Ichigooo! Hey, Ichigo!"

He turned his head to the sound of a voice calling his name. It was Orihime. She had a smile on her lips as she ran to him. He looked down at her as she caught her breath.

"I was hoping to still catch you at your father's," she said, wiping a little sweat from her brow. "I guess you just left."

"Yeah," he mumbled, looking away from her.

"What's wrong? Did you have a fight with him?"

"No. We didn't fight. He wasn't happy but he said it was my life and I could do what I wanted."

"Oh… Well, I told Tatsuki and she was happy about it but Uryu—not so much."

"Uryu? That's your tailor friend, right?"

"Right," she nodded, taking his hand into her hers. "He didn't like the idea of us getting engaged so soon. It sort of hurt my feelings. I don't think he likes you all that much and when I left I think he was a bit mad at me."

"Oh, I see…" Ichigo pointed his eyes downward.

"What's wrong? Ichigo?" she asked, squeezing his hand. "Did your dad say something?"

"No, I've just been thinking about something," he sighed, squeezing her hand back.

"You're not thinking this a bad idea too?

"I… I don't know. I just know that I want you to be with me but…"

"Ichigo, we most likely have more than a year before we can actually tie the knot. We're going to have ups and downs to build our relationship on."

"It's something else though. This morning do you remember me asking if you—Uh?"

Ichigo felt a strong arm hook around his neck, pulling him into another male body. Quickly followed by a hard nuggie to the top his head. He grabbed the arm that had him in a headlock and tried to pull the limb from his neck.

"OWOWOWOW!" Ichigo screamed in pain as the man's knuckles dug deep into his scalp.

"Hey, there old buddy, old pal. Long time no see," the man said, finally letting go of Ichigo. "What's it been? Two months since we last crossed paths?"

Ichigo stepped back, rubbing his sore head. He stared at the man as a look of shock and fear blanched the color from his face. The man was a couple inches taller than him. He wore a white tee with the sleeves rolled up, showing off his strong muscular arms. He had on a pair of black jeans with sandals on his feet. He had wild bright blue hair with matching blue eyes. There was a wide grin on his face as he looked at Ichigo almost a little threatening.

"Y-yes, 2 months," Ichigo said, pulling Orihime back from the strange man.

"Hahahaha! Oh, my! Is this your little lady friend?" the grinning man asked, trying to get a little closer to her but Ichigo blocked him. "Hey, chill. She's yours, I get it. She's cute."

"Back off," Ichigo warned bitterly, his top lip threatening to curl up into a snarl.

"Okay, okay," the man leered, holding his hands up as a show of no contest. "Got a little too close! I was just surprised to see you, my old friend! Nothing to get testy over."

"What do you want?" Ichigo asked as the man moved in, bringing his face close to Ichigo's.

"I see you screwed up, buddy. You screwed up big time," the man whispered, his smile fading some. "I told you what to do but I guess you couldn't do it. Humans' pet."

The tension in Ichigo's shoulders started to mount as the man chuckled a bit. Orihime blinked. She was a little confused. Who was this person? Orihime had never seen him before. Obviously Ichigo knew him but given the tension between them it wasn't a friendly acquaintance. She put a hand on his shoulder, trying to calm him. He reached up and grabbed it.

"You should come see me some time," the blue haired man said, taking a bit of a side step. "And very soon, I hope."

Orihime studied him a little more now that Ichigo wasn't blocking him so much. He really had a punk look about him; a stereotypical bad-boy. That's how he carried himself too. He seemed really cocky and arrogant.

"Perhaps, when I feel like it," Ichigo answered, eying him carefully.

Orihime also noticed the man's feet were filthy as were his hands. Come to think back on it. She looked up at Ichigo. There were times when he would come home with dirty hands and feet, well before he even worked at the plant. He made the excuse that he was visiting his homeless friends. Was this one of his friends from the camp? He looked a little too well-to-do to be from there. Other than his hands and feet he looked well-groomed and clothes were clean and in good shape.

"Aw, now don't be like that. We've got a few things to go over," the man said, his blue eyes falling back on Orihime and he smirked. "A _lot_ of things, actually."

Orihime shrunk back a little farther behind Ichigo. She didn't like that look he gave her just now. She shivered slightly. It was almost predatory in a way and it made her heart race.

"I'll think about it. _Now,_ if you don't mind, we have somewhere else to be," Ichigo said, grabbing Orihime's hand firmly and pulled her away from the man.

"I'll see ya around—buddy," the man half waved as Ichigo lead Orihime down the busy sidewalk.

It was a while before he slowed and let Orihime catch her breath. She looked back as did Ichigo, not seeing the man behind them. She turned to look back up at Ichigo. He had a look of anger on his face.

"Who was that man?" Orihime questioned as Ichigo turned to look at her.

"Someone that I don't want anywhere near you," he said, wrapping an strong arm around her shoulders. "If you see him again you give me a call. It doesn't matter if I'm at work."

"If you're not friends why did he want to meet up with you?" Orihime asked as they started walking down the sidewalk again.

"We had some sort of a deal between us once," he said, pulling her closer to him. "He most likely wants to talk about that."

"You're not going to are you?"

"If I can avoid it, I will."

"If he gets to be a problem should we call the police?"

"No! No, don't call them," he exclaimed as she looked at him wide-eyed. "Just let me handle him."

"You're not in _trouble_ again, are you?" she asked, her ash blue eyes narrowing. "Ichigo…"

"No, it's nothing like that! Nothing at all to do with the law, I promise," he quickly said as she still looked skeptical. "This is something else."

"You sure?"

"Very sure."

"Well, okay… Are you going to at least tell me what this deal is—was?"

"I'd… I'd rather not. It's strictly between me and him."

"Ichigo, what are you hiding?"

He closed his eyes for a second before casting them on her. She looked worried with her knitted eyebrows and pursed lips. He drew in a sharp breath and quickly let it back out. He needed to tell her the truth at some point but after meeting _him_ again Ichigo just couldn't bring himself to do it.

"Just… Just drop it for right now. Please, just leave it be."

"Hmm… All right. This deal of yours had better not turn around and bite us in the butt."

"Heh… Yeah," he mumbled, rubbing that back of his head. A change of subject would do nicely here. "Lunch! Let's get lunch! I'm hungry."

"When are you not hungry? I swear, at times I think given a chance you'd eat a whole horse," she sighed, shaking her head.

"Is there one around here? Let's try it!"

"Oh, ha-ha, you silly-goose!"

* * *

A week passed by without a single sighting of the strange blue haired man. But that still didn't mean Ichigo was any less paranoid. He'd walk Orihime to work and from work ever since. She thought he was just being overly cautious but she liked that he worried that much about her. Ichigo didn't say much about the man other than she needed to keep her distance from him.

Ichigo just seemed to be on guard a lot more lately. Every little misplaced noise his eyes were trained on its location. He really was paranoid. Hopefully, soon he'd calm down and things could go back to normal. That's what Orihime prayed for. One night, however, Ichigo seemed to be very fidgety. He couldn't be still and started pacing the apartment, relentlessly. It was an odd behavior for him. He almost acted like an anxious animal in a cage. She didn't like it and it was starting to unnerve her.

"Ichigo, you're going to wear a hole in the floor if you keep doing that," she joked, looking at him as she sat on the couch and he paced near the door. "What's got you so antsy?"

"I just… I can't sit still," he said, stopping long enough to speak.

"Clearly. You're freaking me, though. Can you stop?" she huffed.

"I-I can't," he said, running his hands through his hair, making it look wild.

"If you come over here I'll give you a petting!"

"Not in the mood."

"Well! That's a first. Honestly, you look like a frazzled cat."

He stopped dead in mid-stride and turned his head to look at her.

"What? You do. Your hair's sticking out all over the place."

"Hmph!" he started pacing again.

"Ugh, Ichigo…" she whined, throwing her head back on frustration. "Do something other than pace, please! If it wasn't for the damn curfew I'd say go take a walk and burn off your energy."

"Trust me I want out of here! I want out bad."

"The one night you're off work and this is how you act? You're killing me!"

"Sorry, I'm just really pent up right now. I wanna…" he looked down at his hands and gritted his teeth. _I wanna… I wanna tear something! Shred something!_

"Out."

"Huh?" he stopped.

"Go. Out. Go out," she pointed at the front door.

"Huh?"

"Leave. Please. Give me some peace of mind for a couple of minutes."

"Uh, are you sure? What about the curfew? If I'm not working I—"

"At this point screw the curfew. Take a walk but don't go far, okay? I still don't like you going out but you're driving me crazy!"

"I'm sorry, really," he said, slipping on his shoes and opened the door. "I'll be back in a little while."

"That's fine. Just remember don't go far," she waved as he shut the door behind him. "He better not get into trouble for being out."

* * *

A large plastic trashcan tipped over with a heavy thud, spilling its contents all over the dirty pavement. A large black dog looking a little worse for wear quickly tore through the plastic bags, looking for a something edible. He was scrawny, his fur was a little matted, and an old embedded collar cut deep into his neck. His scaly black nose rooted around the waste pile, looking for any scrap or morsel to put in his empty stomach. He tore at napkins and clawed at wrappers. He wanted anything he sniffed out that could mean food.

He found a bone and quickly started gnawing on it. He pulled off what little meat it had to offer before actually crunching on the bone itself. He held the bone between his worn front paws, biting down as hard as he could, breaking off small pieces. As he gnawed on his small prize he never noticed what was lurking farther down the dark alley.

It was large and crouched down, taking advantage of the dark shadows of the towering buildings. Its gold eyes were focused strictly on the oblivious canine. It moved ever so quietly as it slowly as inched closer on its large padded paws. The tip of its long banned tail twitched a little in anticipation. It had been a little over week since its last hunt.

It treaded ever so lightly, careful of its footing not to knock or step on something that could mean its discovery. It was now in range of the poor scrappy dog. Its large muscles tightened as it readied for the deadly leap. The dog was still completely unaware of his looming death just a few feet from him. His attention was strictly on the now gnarled bone that was perched between his paws.

In a flash the dog felt a massive weight bare down on his knobby back followed by a bone crunching bite to his already injured throat. The poor canine never even had to chance to force out a whine. His legs kicked for a couple of seconds before asphyxiation set in. The dog's movements halted and his whole body went limp in the beast's toothy mouth. The dog was picked up and dragged off, back into the shadows of the dirty alley.

* * *

Honestly, he didn't like doing this. He was even disgusted by it but it was in his nature. The instinct often grew too strong for him to ignore after a while. It was his predatory drive and he had to obey it. He dealt with it most days but over time it would build and build until he could no longer contain it. He usually went after street vermin such a stray dogs, cats, rats, raccoon dogs, and the like. Only rarely had to gone after people. Usually the poor souls were just at the wrong place at the wrong time. He had tried to keep the number of human casualties low and thanks to the curfew, he had.

He pulled the freshly killed dog to the back of the alley and back behind some old wooden creates. He was now hidden from the mouth of the alley and any possible prying eyes. He worked at removing the matted hair from the skin. He shook his head and scrapped his rough tongue on his large teeth to remove the unwanted hair from his mouth.

The dog didn't offer much. He was far too skinny to be of any real value but he wasn't going to let it go to waste. A kill was a kill. As he worked on the carcass of the canine he never noticed the violet eyes staring at him from up above on the rusted fire escape. His ears swiveled left and right, listening out for any poor idiot that wandered down the alleyway. He didn't need to be caught. It wouldn't end well for him.

Slowly the violet eyes above him started to descend to get a closer look. Four thin black legs with white paws carefully crept down the old steel steps. It drew ever closer to the monster below, level by level. It stopped on the final landing and sat down, wrapping a long black, nimble tail around its petite paws. Violet eyes were still fixed on the large striped beast below.

The large beast seemed to have picked up on the much tinier version sitting above him. His ears were back, listening, waiting for more movement. He continued to pick at the meager flesh of the thin dog. No doubt the small cat above him knew better than to come near him, unless it wished to meet the same horrible fate. There wasn't much left of the dog now. Once he was done here he would return home. He need not be out any longer.

"Tyger Tyger, burning bright, in the forests of the night; what immortal hand or eye, could frame thy fearful symmetry?"

His head jerked up with a start. He quickly turned to look for the sound of the voice. A deep growl came from deep within his throat as he bared his long sharp teeth. Gold eyes studied the darkness around him but saw no one. He stopped growling with a hard snort, before turning back to his kill. His rounded ears still poised for another sound. They twitched back and forth.

"I'm assuming by that reaction you have the intelligence."

He jumped again, turning fully, finally looking up at the only other occupant in the alley. Gold eyes met violet. That small house cat was as black as the shadows save for her white paws. They stared at each other for a heavy moment or two.

"How dreadful you are," the cat spoke, sticking her small head between the rusty bars. "Slinking around in the dead of night, picking off helpless strays. Depraved if you ask me."

He just sat there frozen as his golden eyes widen with surprise.

"So, you _do_ understand me. Can you speak human?"

He just stared up at her and her violet eyes narrowed. This tiger was just totally awestruck by her. She sighed shaking her small black head.

"Hey, I asked if you can speak."

He still seemed to be completely mesmerized by her. This tiger was hopeless. She shook her head and pulled her head out from between the steel bars. Clearly, he hadn't "transcended." Hell, he might not even know what he was. If that was the case she had no time for such a large, hulking brute. He may have the "intelligence" but he was still too primal and she was far too small to get close to him. She valued her life.

"Forget it. Stupid idiot. All I did was waste by breath."

She turned to leave back towards the stairs she had come down. She wanted to be up high and away from him.

"W-wait! Stop!"

She paused with one white paw on the step. She turned back around and walked back over to the edge of the landing. He was on his hind legs, balancing his large form the best he could.

"Oh? So you have a voice. And here I thought you were just some stupid beast."

"Are… Are you like me?" he asked, getting back down on all four paws.

"More or less," she hummed, twitching her tail. "You're new to all this, aren't you? You're not quite sure what to do."

"I, uh… No…" he hung his head low.

"Uh-huh. Did you discover your ability by yourself? I've hear some rather unsavory stories of those that have."

"No. The jaguar in the cage beside me at the zoo he… He told me."

"Did he? He's been a real problem in this city. You on the other hand have been keeping your head down."

"Yeah, mostly…" his voice trailed off.

"Yeah, mostly? Ohhh, listen to you moan. Sheesh…"

"Don't pick at me! I've coughed up hairballs bigger than you!"

"Charming, really… So."

"So what?"

"So, look at you. Big guy on the block. I bet you just strut around like, hey, looking at me I'm a big bad tiger. I'm a lean mean muscle machine."

"Seriously? If all you're going to do is poke fun at me, I'm going home. I'm late enough as it is."

He stood on his massive paws and started to down the alleyway. A moment later he heard something jump down on the old wood creates. He paused and turned to see the little cat.

"Home, huh? And you're late? Intriguing," she purred, jumping from the boxes to the pavement. "So… Tell me. How did you transcend?"

"What?" he asked turning around and looked down at the house cat.

"Wow! You really are a newbie, aren't you?" she said, walking up to him and flipped her black tail under his large nose. "Look. Clearly, your jaguar friend just gave you the raw basics and didn't tell you much else, did he?"

"I really wouldn't call him my friend. I was just the bigger cat and I managed to get us out of pens at the zoo. He told me about this 'gift' and he gave me some half ass explanation."

"So, he used you?"

"Yes."

"Well, as it is, you really shouldn't be left alone starting out. We smaller cats can manage well enough alone. We're domesticated to the point where we have no need to go out hunting among other things."

"So…"

"So, you're going to have big problems down the road. Big cats like yourself are not designed to live in populated places like this. You'd do better out in a small village in the countryside. I suggest relocating for your safety."

"I can't do that," he snapped, shaking his large head.

"Question. Do you even know what you are?"

"A… Tiger…?"

He quickly got a hard swat across his nose by a small white paw. He backed up as she hissed.

"Wrong answer, idiot! You are a _werecat_ , dummy! Of course that's a rather broad term but… Have you been living under a rock or something?"

"You're pushing it, midget!" he said, knocking her over with a hard bump of his head.

"Midget? Coming from you, that's rich. Ha! Look, tough guy, not all of us can be giant monsters," she said, getting back to her feet and jumped on his head.

"Get off me," he ordered, shaking his head as she ran down his back. "Hey! Off, hairball!"

"You've got size but that all you have," she stated, plopping her small butt down in the middle of his broad back. "Hey, let's make a deal, big guy."

"That last deal I made did not work out," he said, glaring at her. "Not interested."

"Hear me out. We're both werecats. Better known as bakeneko around these parts. Grant it we're on _completely_ different ends of the spectrum but you clearly need a guiding paw," she said, kneading his back a little. "There is a good size colony of us here in this city living both as cats and as humans. Bet you didn't know that, did you? Give me a couple of days to talk to them. I'm sure we can work something out to get you up and running like a real werecat, living in a human world."

She puffed out her small black chest proudly and he snorted, not amused. He suddenly flopped over to his right side, knocking her to the hard ground.

"Waaaah! Hey, idiot, you could have crushed me," she hissed, fluffing her ebony fur and arched her back.

"I'm going home," he grumbled, getting back to his paws and started moving towards the opening of the alleyway.

"Oh, c'mon! You've got to learn to blend in with people of the city," she said, bounding up to him and walked in front of him. "Given what you are that has to be hard on your own."

"I'm doing well enough, I don't need your help, hairball," he used his large paw to push her out his way.

"Sourpuss, much," she snorted, trying to keep up with his long strides. "Look, if you discover you can't figure something out, need help, or if something happens let me know. I hang around here a lot."

"You're overly friendly, don't you think?" he asked, glaring down at her.

"Me? Ha, hardly," she scoffed. "Listen, Spots, I'm worried you'll do something stupid. Like I said you're a big cat. You're a Panthera and not a Felis like me."

"What does that even mean?" he asked, looking carefully for anybody that might be out on the street before he moved onto the sidewalk. "Wait? Do you just call me Spots?"

"The Panthera are the four great cats. Those are lions, jaguars, leopards, and of course tigers," she said, trying to keep up her pace with his. "You're not the same as us Felis. We're sort of at the bottom."

"I'll show you the bottom of my stomach if you don't leave me alone," he growled, nudging her away from him. "You're such a chatter box. Go away and let me be."

"Oh, is Spots in a grumpy widdle mood," she cooed as he snarled, forcing her to the ground with his large snout and held her. "OKAY, OKAY! Point taken! Point taken! Don't hurt me!"

He picked up his head and along with his step. He had enough of the chattering house cat. He wasn't planning on being out this long. He had to get home and quick. No doubt she was worried about where he had gone too for so long. He didn't like making her worry.

As he dashed off down the pavement he neglected to notice the large white jaguar perched on a small bench. He jumped down and cautiously trailed the larger orange cat. He had plans for his dear "buddy." Things had not gone quite as he had planned. That idiot tiger hadn't done what he had told him to do. The tiger was younger than him and still naïve about the world. The striped orange cat had been born and raised by humans, while he, the jaguar, had not.

He had been born wild and orphaned at a few months of age do to poaching. The men that killed his mother were caught right after and he and his 3 other siblings were placed in a rehab center to be "taken care of." However, do his white coloring the center did not feel "safe" letting him back out into the jungles, fearing he would not survive because he "stuck out a like sore thumb." He was traded off to a couple of other centers for a few years and finally landed in Japan of all places, which was a good ways away from his original home.

It was there that he met the humans' pet. A young critically endangered tiger about 5 years younger than him. He acted like a big baby around his human masters. He was always happy for a good head rub and attention. They had praised him for his rarity and for how well behaved he was. He, however, was a lot more aggressive and hated to be handled. He stewed a good bit over how the tiger was coddled. It made him sick.

The jaguar also had the 'gift' to understand people and become "people" if he wanted. So did his mother and his father. However, his siblings did not have his gift, which happened. He was the odd one out in the litter in more ways than one.

While in quarantine he learned that the humans' pet also had the gift but the stupid tiger had no idea about it. He thought he was no different from any other tiger. Now the jaguar was smart and he saw an opportunity, a big one. The tiger like him was a Panthera and Panthera shared a root language. During their time in their quarantine pens the jaguar often spoke to the young tiger. He told the tiger about the outside world away from human hands and also telling him about the gift. However, he neglected quite a few details.

He just really hated that glorified tiger. It burned him deeply and he was going to get back at him and the humans. So the jaguar "befriended" the tiger and together they hatched a plan to escape the zoo and be free. It had worked. When the humans had come to remove them to clean the pens that night they made a break for it. The tiger was much bigger than him and he easily toppled and knocked back the humans. They managed to make it outside and with a sheer stroke of luck found a place they could jump the exterior wall of the zoo.

However, it was there that tiger got scared and ran in the other direction. For two months he hadn't seen or heard about the tiger. He figured, like the humans, that he swam down the river and out of the city. Then suddenly he reappeared and started attacking street vermin no less. He figured that tiger was too scared to transcend but when he saw the tiger earlier this week in his human guise well, needless to he was happy. He plans to get back at the humans looked like they would be put back on track. However, when he had actually gotten closer to him he noticed that the tiger had screwed up and big time. He could smell it.

Transcending involves two methods. The first is to devour humans and take wanted aspects of the humans to form a new human body and they could change the appearance at will; basically, becoming a shapeshifter. That was what the jaguar had done. The second method was just out and out body stealing. However, the human body must be _dead_ and very _fresh_. That was what the tiger was supposed to have done. However, he missed the "dead" memo somehow and he missed it by a mile!

Apparently the pampered tiger either forget that he boy must be dead or he just couldn't kill and hoped for the best. The jaguar opted for the latter. The tiger couldn't bring himself to kill the young human male. That of course was going to be troublesome for the tiger. Doing that wasn't allowed. It was against the rules and usually had nasty repercussions over time. He almost wanted to laugh at the tiger's stupidity but his plans were now even more derailed. That was no laughing matter. For this he was going to get retribution on the stupid tiger and he was going to hunt and kill those closest to him, one by one.

* * *

Ichigo arrived at the apartment door, trying to wipe off his blackened hands and feet. He knew she'd ask that same question again as to where he had been. He took his shirt off and wiped his hands and feet down on the inside. He got off as much city grime as he could. He put his shirt back on and opened the door. To his surprise she was slouched on the couch out like a light. He took in a sigh of relief and carefully closed the door shut. He took off his shoes and tiptoed across the floor to the closet to get a towel and sleep pants. It was best to wash up before she woke up.

He slipped into the bathroom, closing the door quietly. He took off his clothes and looked in the mirror. That little house cat left him a good set of scratch marks across the bridge of his nose. They would be gone by tomorrow evening. He turned on the shower and started to clean up his body.

He dried off and redressed. He really needed to brush his teeth for obvious reasons. He even flossed a little bit. Once done with his grooming he left the cramped bathroom and to see her still asleep but about to slide off the sofa. He smile a little and walked over, picking her and relayed her back down on the sofa, putting her head on a throw pillow. He then covered her with a blanket and turned off the TV.

He looked down at her for a moment, running the back his hand down her soft cheek. He pulled out the roll away and unfolded it. He fixed the sheets and turned off the light. He climbed into the bed and adjusted his pillow. However, as he put his head down his mind began to wonder from the quiet in the room as he did quite often.

He stared up at the dark ceiling above him as he saw that house cat in his mind's eye. He was a werecat, a bakeneko. He reached up and touched the five little scratches etched on his nose. They stung a little under his warm touch. He flopped his arm back down to his side and released a long sigh. He turned her down and in hindsight he started thinking that was a mistake. Honestly, he was struggling to keep his instincts in check. He was managing but only so-so.

He rolled over, facing the kitchen window. A scant amount of city light flared out from the edges of the curtain. There was also the fact that he was basically hiding from Orihime. He still couldn't bring himself to say it. And to show her without warning could be very detrimental to her and their relationship. He didn't want to hurt her, he didn't want to scare her, and he didn't want to lose her, to be rejected by her. Like Tatsuki had said, his princess was a delicate flower and he didn't want to step on her and watch her wither.

But just how long could he keep up his façade? When would it crack? He was a tiger after all not some little kitty-cat. Just his mere presents terrified people. He was walking a thin tightrope. He was both Kurosaki Ichigo and a wild animal. He constantly switched between the two and sooner or later he was going to get stuck in between, where he couldn't hide as one or the other.

Perhaps he should search for that little cat after all. She might be able to help him balance on the tightrope better. He pulled the covers up over his shoulders and closed his chocolate eyes. He'd try and find her tomorrow after he dropped Orihime off at work. He would have a while to search her out until he met Orihime at the café. Hopefully, he would find her and figure what he could do to better his situation, assuming she'll talk to him after he slammed into the sidewalk. He'd have to apologize for that first and foremost.

* * *

Ichigo kissed Orihime goodbye as they stood just off the property of the convenience store. She turned and started towards her work. Ichigo watched as she opened the door and turned on the lights. Once he knew she was safe inside he turned to leave, putting his hands in his pockets. He was going to return to area were that cat had been. Hopefully, she was somewhere around there.

He walked a couple of blocks and started to look around. He kept his nose to the air. He got a hint of her but it wasn't too fresh. He scratched his head and kept looking. He turned and walked down the narrow alleyway he was last night. He made his way to the back. He saw what was left of the dog. He really did a number on it. He then turned and looked up at the fire escape. He sniffed again. It was the same here. Her scent wasn't too fresh. He turned back, glancing at the dog's remains before heading towards the alley's entrance.

He was about to step out when he was confronted by a small gang for men, 5 of them. Ichigo took a step back, eying them carefully. This was not going to end well. Grant it he could handle them but he had to keep a low profile. They started forcing him a little farther back into alleyway and away from the street. It might just be best to avoid a conflict and hand over his wallet.

"Hello, what have we got here?" the leader questioned, holding out a long wooden bokken.

"Look, guys, I don't want any trouble from you," Ichigo said, holding up his hands and backed into the plastic trashcan with a hollow thump.

"Really?" the leader said, running a hand over his long red hair pushing back his hair, showing black tattoos on his for head. "Well, you're on our turf, carrot top. That means that you're asking for trouble."

"Here. It doesn't contain much but…" Ichigo pulled out his wallet from his back pocket and held it out. "Just take it."

The redhead took the offered billfold from Ichigo. He looked it and started laughing so did the four others behind him. Ichigo didn't like that too much. A moment later the redhead dropped the wallet to the ground and stomped on it, grinding it down with his black leather boot. Clearly they weren't looking for a payoff. Ichigo stepped around the trashcan as they advanced a little more. If he moved any farther down he'd been pinned. If that was the case he'd have to fight.

He knew he was already stronger than them even in his human form. He would only release the tiger as the last resort. There were 5 of them. There was no way he could silence all of them without getting into trouble. He didn't need to police down on him with their guns.

He soon found the wooden creates to his right. He was almost at the fence at the back. He could try for the fire escape that was to his left. He looked at it and went to grab the railing and instantly paused. The stairs and landings were crawling with cats of all sizes and colors. When did they…? He even took notice of them balancing on the fence. This was… What had he gotten himself into? He sniffed the air again. They five men were cats. He didn't even notice at first.

In a panic Ichigo jumped up, grabbing the rusted base of the landing of the fire escape only to have the cats start clawing and biting at his hands and arms. A coupled even jumped at his face, digging in and swatting with their razor sharp claws. Then, suddenly, with a quick jerk at his ankles, his fingers slipped, and he fell to the pavement. Hands clambered to hold him down. Ichigo swatted and kicked at his attackers but he became overwhelmed with a mass of cats. He tried to cover his face but it did little good.

"Hold his arms down," redhead ordered, holding up the bokken. "I need to clean shot."

Ichigo felt a growl build in the back of his throat as he tried to break free. His face was badly marred and blood was sliding his eyes, making it hard to see. Panic was starting to take over his rational mind. He had to get away! He had to get away!

"He's going to morph," another one of the men yelled, noticing Ichigo's bright yellow eyes and the toothy snarl.

"No he won't! Nighty-night," the redhead snapped, bringing the bokken down hard into Ichigo's head with a loud clack.

Ichigo instantly went limp in their strong grip. The cats quickly scattered and gave them room to handle Ichigo properly. The redhead crouched down, grabbing Ichigo's chin and he jerked his head back and forth, studying him. He then let go and Ichigo's head fell towards his chest. The redhea wiped the blood from his hand onto his dark jeans.

"Tie him up and let's get out of here," the redhead commanded as his cohorts did as ordered. "We caused too much noise. The police will be on their way."

They bound his arms and legs with chains, then gagged and blindfolded him. They then lifted the unconscious Ichigo up onto their shoulders and hastily made their way out of the alley. The leader doubled back and grabbed the wallet off the pavement. The horde of cats scattered and disappeared, leaving the alley vacant, dark, and quiet once more.

(A/N Well, that's it for that chapter. I'm going to bed now! So bye and I hope you enjoyed.)

Millie M. Banshee


	4. Decisions

The Princess and the Tiger

Chapter 4

Decisions

(A/N

 **SOUNDS/sounds**

 _Thoughts_

* * *

(Last Time)

"Tie him up and let's get out of here," the redhead commanded as his cohorts did as ordered. "We caused too much noise. The police will be on their way."

They bound his arms and legs with chains, then gagged and blindfolded him. They then lifted the unconscious Ichigo up onto their shoulders and hastily made their way out of the alley. The leader doubled back and grabbed the wallet off the pavement. The horde of cats scattered and disappeared, leaving the alley vacant, dark, and quiet once more.

* * *

(Present)

As he came around to the waking world the first thing that assaulted his senses was a loud roar of cheers and jeers. The sound was blaring and unpleasant to his throbbing head. He tried to move in an attempt to muffle the obnoxious caterwauling. However, he soon discovered that his movements were severely restricted. He couldn't even roll over onto his side. Then there was the tight piece of choking fabric, pulling harshly at the corners of his mouth. His deep brown eyes slowly opened. His vision was blurred and greeted with a well beaten dirt floor. Dust tickled the inside of his nose as his breathing began to quicken as his brain started to register the danger surrounding him.

"Well, look who finally woke up," a mocking voice chided above him.

A moment later Ichigo felt a heavy weight slam down on the side of his aching head. It was the man's heavy boot-clad foot. He pressed down hard; the sole of the boot pinching Ichigo's tender ear. He slowly started to apply more weight and more pressure as Ichigo let out a muffled cry of pain through his thick gag.

"What was that? I didn't hear you," the man chuckled, picking his foot up and slammed it down again. "You need to speak up!"

Ichigo released another diluted scream, frantically fighting against his steel binds. The man that towered over him repeated his stomping several times more, before kicking Ichigo hard in the side, flipping him over onto his back. The hard metal links dug into his skin as the man's foot was slammed into his heaving chest, the air forced out of his lungs.

"Hey, don't fall back asleep," the man leered, bending down, bringing his tattooed face close to Ichigo. "We haven't even had our fun with you yet."

Ichigo's eyes were barely open and tears blurred his vision. He was trying to catch his breath but the chain binds were very tight plus the added weight of his attacker didn't help. He was fading in and out of consciousness. He could make out the group surround them, giving out commands on what to do next. That scared him as he had no means of fighting back. He was bound and gagged, forced to watch and listen to those around him spit and jeer at him.

He didn't understand what he had done to warrant this. He didn't understand any of it. He didn't know who these people were, where he was, or why they were doing this. His mind couldn't rationalize too much at the moment. He felt the foot lift from his chest only to find it being forced into his side again. He slid along the ground a good ways, the links of the chain leaving large gouges in the dry dirt under him.

"Kick him again!"

"Punch him! Punch him!"

"Teach him a lesson!"

"Wooooh! Yeah, he's feeling that!"

"Hit him in the throat!"

"Nah, the stomach!

"Kick his teeth in!"

At this point Ichigo had never felt so helpless as he felt the man grab him by his feet and start to drag him along the ground like a sack of potatoes. His head was being swung left and right with every random turn and twist. He finally came to stop only to have the man reach down and grab the front of his chains and to sit him up. Ichigo barely even had the strength to look up at his assailant.

"My, how the mighty have fallen. I was expecting a bit more from a beast such as you. Not much of a Panthera, are you?" the man scoffed, punching Ichigo square in the nose. Ichigo's head snapped back. "I mean, really, look at you! You're so damn pathetic you make me sick!"

Ichigo was dropped back to the hard dirt with a hard thud. His could smell and taste the blood in his nose and mouth. He felt a hand grab a fist full of his orange hair holding his head up over the dirt. At this point Ichigo couldn't even find the strength to open his tear soaked eyes. He had a feeling another hit was coming and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

 **CLAANK! CLAANK! CLAANK!**

All of the jeering around him stopped instantly at the sound of something striking metal hard echoed out. Ichigo felt the grip on his head weaken and release. His head fell back to the dry earth with a meaty thump. What now?

"THAT IS QUITE ENOUGH! STOP YOUR ATTACK AT ONCE!"

It was a man's voice, a little elderly sounding, but still strong and commanding. Ichigo didn't know what was going on but at least his beating had stopped. He heard several feet scurry away from him as several more feet approached. Once again he felt unfamiliar hands on him but this time they seemed to mean no harm. At least not yet.

"Where are the keys to the locks? Give them to me," a woman asked, forcefully. "Damn it! He can barely breathe. He could suffocate! The keys! NOW!"

A moment later the sound of clanking keys fell at Ichigo's head. He felt the chains on him go slack the locks were removed. He drew in a deep breath. He was quickly unraveled from his metal binds as more hands started feel around him. His shirt was lifted up along with his pants legs, shoes and socks. More or less he was being examined. He still didn't have the power to open his eyes.

"Sorry, I'm so late! I just heard! AH! Holy shit! Is he going to be okay?"

He knew that voice. It was that cat from last night. He tried to open his eyes but he just couldn't do it.

"I won't know until I take a better look at him at my office. Bring me the stretcher!"

"Do not think this won't go without a server punishment," it was the elderly man again. He sounded closer this time. "All of you will now have to…"

At this point Ichigo just gave up fighting to remain awake. He got enough information that he was in much better hands. He drifted off just they picked him to put him onto the stretcher.

* * *

Orihime waited patiently at the café for Ichigo to show up. He was nearly an hour late. She sat with her back resting against the bench. She didn't know what was holding him up. She was starting to get really worried as he had never been this late before. Maybe he was still asleep at home? Maybe. She got to her feet and started towards the apartment. Hopefully she would find him sprawled out on the couch.

After a few minutes' walk she arrived and unlocked the door. Her heart sank not finding him on the couch and the bathroom was empty too. She reached into her pocket and called his cell but he didn't pick up. She hung up the phone and called his work to see if he was called in for some reason. They answered and told her he wasn't due for work until that evening. She then called his father's maybe he stopped by over there. He too had not seen Ichigo that day. He offered up the idea that maybe he went to visit his friends at the camp.

Perhaps that's what it was and he had just lost track of time. She closed the door back and walked back to the café once more to check to see if maybe he really was just running late. Still he was not there. She didn't know where else he could be. She didn't want to jump the gun or make a big fuss out of something until it became much more evident that something was indeed wrong.

She walked back to the apartment again, hoping that she had just missed him. Still he was nowhere to be seen when she opened the door and stepped in. She hung up her purse and sat down on the couch. Hopefully nothing had happened to him and that he was at the camp completely unaware of being extremely late. That's all she could hope for. She curled into a ball and turned on the TV. Maybe she could get her mind off it that way.

A few hours passed and still Ichigo had not returned or called. Worry had fully set in by this point. She called Ichigo's father again and told him that she still had no contact with Ichigo. Once again Isshin also said he hadn't seen him. He offered to come pick her up and start looking around other past haunts. Perhaps, he was other friends from his past like Keigo's.

They drove around for a few hours and a little after curfew. Isshin ran out of ideas of where to look and Orihime got a call from the newspaper office telling her that Ichigo didn't show up for his shift. It was looking more and more like they may have to go to the police. They didn't know where else to do. His phone would ring a few times and then go right to voicemail. She must have left like 10 messages by now all asking him to call her back right away.

"Are you sure you don't know anywhere else?" Isshin asked and Orihime shook her head as she gripped the shoulder strap of her seatbelt. "No? Are there any people that might have some sort of grudge against him? With his attitude I'm sure he's rubbed someone the wrong way."

There was that odd man with the blue hair and matching eyes. However, she was hesitant to bring him up. Ichigo didn't want the police to know about him and honestly Ichigo never really talked about him but… Her heart skipped a beat thinking about it. What if that man did something to him? She had no idea where to look for him. Worse yet, what if by sheer bad luck he was attacked by the tiger again or the jaguar? Ichigo would have such odd luck.

"I'm just so worried for him," she muttered, looking up at the orange streetlamps go by over the car. "He's never done this to me before! What… What if he was mauled again by one of those big cats?"

"Now, now! Don't think like that," he said, trying to force a smile for her. "That'll be like being struck by lightning twice."

"Interesting fact, a man in the U.S. was struck 7 times by lightning in his life time."

"Really…? Huh. Well, that's not at all pleasant… Look, Inoue, uh… I'm just out of ideas. I think it's about time to we go to the police."

"I guess you're right…" she moaned, hanging her head low. "I just wish he would…"

 **RRRIIING! RRRIIING! RRRIIING!**

"WAAAAH!" Orihime jumped from the ringing phone in her lap. She quickly scrambled to pick it up. The number was his. She quickly flipped it open. "Ichigo—h-hey!"

Isshin quickly jerked the bright red phone from her fingers. He quickly put it to his ear. An angry scowl planted firmly on his face.

"WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU, YOU STUPID IDIOT?" Isshin bellowed, pulling into a nearly empty parking lot.

"Oh, my, that was certainly quite the greeting," it was woman's voice.

Isshin paused his rant as he put the car in park. That was the last voice he expected to come out of the phone. It actually scared him that it wasn't Ichigo's voice or one that he was familiar with.

"Kurosaki, what's…?" Orihime asked as Isshin held his hand up to shush her.

"Who is?" he asked his tone was rather deep and concerned.

"I'm sorry to be calling you now so late. I wish I could have done so earlier. I just now located this phone. I'm Dr. Unohana Retsu. To whom do I speak?"

"I'm Dr. Kurosaki Isshin. This is my son's number! Where is he? What happened to him?" Isshin's voice was laced with worry.

"Is Ichigo okay?" Orihime asked, trying to lean in a little close to hear.

"Well, he's doing better than he was this morning. It seems that your poor son was just at the wrong place at the wrong time. He was attacked by a small local gang. They mistook him for a member of a rival gang. He was kidnapped and beaten up pretty badly. We got a rough idea of where the attack took place and discovered his phone on the ground. It's about dead now. I'll give you the address to my clinic and we'll talk more."

"He was attacked? Where the police contacted? He has a bit of a record they should have recognized him and contacted someone!" Isshin snapped into the phone.

"Yes, the authorities were called and the matter is being looked into."

"Then why didn't we hear anything from them? We've been out looking for him for our hours now. We were just about to try the police department!"

"I understand you're worry and I don't know why they didn't contact you but he's fine now. Please, sir, just calm down. Take some deep breaths and just breathe a bit for me. I'm going to give you directions and can come see him."

"Y-Yes, of course…" Isshin said, pulling a pen from his shirt pocket and started looking for some paper in the car. "Inoue, find me something to write on."

"Right," she nodded, frantically looking for an old napkin or receipt. She found one in the backseat and picked it up. "Here's something!"

Isshin grabbed the scrap of paper, putting it on the front of the steering wheel. He quickly jotted down the address and the directions to where the doctor's office was located. They exchanged a few more words before hanging up. Orihime had heard enough to understand Ichigo was assaulted by a gang. It was eating at her too as to why no one was contacted by the police.

Anyway, Ichigo was in a medical facility and being taken care of. At least he wasn't out in the street dead somewhere. Isshin pulled out of the parking lot and headed towards the clinic where his son was located. He knew he'd get more information soon and wanted to know everything that happen and why.

* * *

When they finally arrived they were greeted a nurse. She bowed to them in greeting and took them down a hall towards an elevator. They got on going to the 3rd floor. They dismounted and continued on down a long hall before stoping a door to their left. She knocked lighting on the partly opened wood door before opening it. Ichigo was propped up in the hospital bed. He was covered his several large bruises and cuts. He half waved at them as they stood in the door.

"He's a little doped up on pain medications but otherwise alert," the nurse said as they rushed into the room and flanked his bed. "Dr. Unohana will be by shortly to talk with you. I'll bring an extra seat in."

She turned sharply on her heel and walked out. Orihime stood to his right and his father to his left. There was look of worry, relief, and anger on their faces as they looked down at him. This was going to odd to explain.

"What happened?" Orihime asked, gently grabbing his hand. "Why did a gang attack you?"

"It seems… I wandered onto their turf and didn't know it," Ichigo said, trying to turn to look at but it was hard with the brace on his neck. "They got the wrong idea about me. They kidnapped me and attacked me…"

"Where were you when it happened?" Isshin asked, looking down at Ichigo.

"Not too far from the apartment. I was just… Doing some walking around but I stumble into the wrong area," he said, trying to look up his father. "It happened rather fast."

"Did the police talk to you at all?" Isshin asked, gripping the railing of the bed.

"Yes, they did."

"Then why didn't we get a call from them about this and why didn't you let the clinic have our numbers! We were worried sick about you!"

"Hehe… For once he's more hysterical than you are," Ichigo half grinned at Orihime. "That's a first, don't you think?"

"This is no joking matter, Ichigo! You were missing for the greater part of the day," Isshin snapped, gripping the plastic railing tighter. "You had us all worried! Inoue and I have been out looking for you and your sisters have been waiting at home for a phone call. Why couldn't you get in contact with us? You said you talked to the police so I know you were awake."

"Maybe I just didn't feel like it…"

Isshin and Orihime were a little shocked by those words. He didn't feel like it? That was his answer? That was rather odd.

"Didn't feel like it? That's just stupid! You could have told us what happened at least! You could have given us orders not to visit until you felt like it," Orihime said as tears started to build in the corners of her eyes. "You didn't have to completely shut us out like you did! Why would you do that to us?"

He didn't answer her. They waited for a bit as nurse walked and set down the extra chair by Isshin. Still Ichigo remained quiet and wouldn't look at them. Finally, Isshin had had enough.

"Your fiancée asked you a rather important question," Isshin growled, gritting his teeth. "Why did you shut us out?"

Ichigo still kept his split lips sealed up tight.

"Ichigo, please, don't do this! Are you hiding something?" Orihime asked. "You do this when you are. What are you keeping secret?"

"If you know that much then you know I won't say anything on it," Ichigo replied a little harshly.

"I'm starting to think you instigated that fight," Isshin said, pulling his hands from the railing and folded his arms over his chest.

"I did no such thing. They attacked me first," Ichigo snapped back, through clinched teeth.

"That is indeed true," a woman said, walking into the room. "Sorry to keep you waiting. I'm Dr. Unohana."

She was a rather thin woman with a gentle looking face. Her long black hair was braided in the front and she wore a white doctor's coat with nice shirt and long skirt. She had a clipboard in her thin hands as she approached them. Isshin eyed her a bit as she stopped at the foot of the bed. She smiled and but Isshin glared deepened a bit more.

"Hello. I'm Inoue Orihime," Orihime said with small bow.

"Nice to you meet you, Inoue. You must be Dr. Kurosaki, his father," Unohana said, turning to look at him.

"I am," he nodded as he was handed Ichigo's chart almost instantly. He looked at it.

"Well, Dr. Kurosaki, I'm sure you know how to read that but I'll sum it for you, Inoue," she turned to look back at Orihime. "Kurosaki was indeed attacked by a small gang this morning. They knocked him unconscious with a bokken, I believe, and then tried him up in chains so tightly that he couldn't breathe too well. After that he was kicked, stomped on, dragged, and punched. He was barely awake when I first saw him. Needless to say he's got extensive bruising and scratching on his face and torso. Not mention cuts and abrasions from where he was dragged on his back. Nothing was broken and there was no internal bleeding, which of course is good. The worse of the damages are that of a mild concussion, black-eyes, bruised ribs, and some badly pulled muscles in his neck."

"In other words I had the shit knocked out of me," Ichigo snorted.

"Yes, I guess that would be it in a nutshell," Unohana grinned. "I just didn't think that would be the wisest choice of words to use."

"I wouldn't make such light of it, Ichigo. You do realize you could have been killed, right?" Isshin said, looking over the clipboard at his son. "By the way, how did you get out of that mess?"

Dr. Unohana cleared her throat and let out a deep breath.

"Well, as luck would have it the gang was over-heard and a few good Samaritans came running and broke it up. He was transported here right after," she said, looking down at Ichigo. "He was in rather rough shape and unresponsive. That being said, I'd like to keep him overnight for observation. If all goes well he'll go home tomorrow morning."

"That's good that you could come back home tomorrow," Orihime smiled at him. "You know this really hasn't been your year. You got arrested, put in jail, nearly got mugged, mauled by that tiger, and then today you got kidnapped and beaten up by a street gang."

He just stared dully at her as she quickly looked away a bit sheepishly.

"Orihime, please don't jinx me anymore than I already am," he moaned, rolling his eyes. "I don't need anything else to happen."

"Yeah, you're right," she chuckled a little. "Not another word on it."

"Thank you. I don't need any more trouble this year."

"No, you _don't_ ," Isshin emphasized. "I guess we should be thankful that you're not in worse shape than you are. That much is fortunate."

"That much is true. The gang he got tangled up with usually do minor damage, much like schoolyard bullies. This, however, was indeed a first for them to be this brazen and rough," Dr. Unohana mused, crossing her arms. "Clearly you did something that really set them off but you don't recall what?"

"No. Hell, I just though they wanted my wallet. I even gave it to them but they tossed it to the ground without even opening it," Ichigo sighed. "I honestly have no idea what set them off like that."

That of course was a lie. This whole thing was. He did learn truth while he was in the clinic but he had to keep up with the fib about what really happened.

"Well, something sure did and it seemed a little personal, honestly," she said, shaking her head. "I am indeed sorry this happened to you. Oh, before I forget."

She reached into the pocket of her lab coat and pulled out a small business card. She handed it to Isshin. He looked it over briefly.

"That's the detective handling the case," she said as Isshin looked back at her. "He's worked on this gang before and knows them quite well."

"Kyoraku Shunsui?" Isshin muttered.

"Yes. He's rather good at what he does. He's got a few personality traits I'm not fond of but…" she answered with a shrug. "I'm sure he'll figure out something as to why they got so rough."

"Thank you. I'll give him a call in the morning," Isshin said, putting the card in his wallet.

"Well, there's not much more I can say. We did recover his wallet and we managed to find his cell in the alley where he was first attacked," she pointing to a bag on the widow sill. "His other belongings are in there too. Might want to bring him some fresh clothes tomorrow."

"I'll do that," Orihime answered.

"Well, that's about all I have. Do you have any more questions?" Unohana asked.

"I still don't understand why you couldn't call either one of us earlier?" Isshin grumbled, handing back the clipboard.

"He didn't want us to call. That's something you're going to discuss with him," Unohana shrugged. "Anything else?"

"Not at the moment," Isshin shook his head.

"Very well, then. I'll be calling it a night. My PA will be on call should you need anything. Just go to one of the nurses stations and they'll call her," she said, taking a step back. "I should see you tomorrow before he's discharged."

"Thank you," Isshin said as she turned and left. He let out a long sigh and turned back to Ichigo. "You don't have a history with that group, do you?"

"No, for the last time! I've _never_ seen them until this morning," Ichigo grumbled with a disgusted snort. "I don't know what I did."

"I still don't understand why you didn't call me or your dad, though," Orihime said, taking a seat. "Why didn't you want us to know?"

"I… I guess I was a little embarrassed…"

"To be beaten to a near pulp?" Isshin huffed. "I'd be more scared than embarrassed. Did your pride take a pounding too?"

"Something like that," Ichigo sighed.

"Well?" Orihime said, crossing her arms.

"Well, what?"

"I think we need an apology from you."

"What for?"

"For making us pull our hair out," she shook a finger at him. "You have any idea what we went through trying to find you?"

"Yes, I think we are due an apology from you for this," Isshin agreed. "We spent hours trying to locate you. For all we knew, you could have been face down in the river."

He slumped down in his bed a bit more, switching glances between the two angry individuals on either side of him. He did owe them an apology and he knew that. He could tell that Orihime had been crying some. Her eyes were a little red around the edges and her lashes looked a little matted from dried tears.

It wasn't that he didn't want to call them, it was that he couldn't. After he came to in the small clinic he realized all too quickly that his troubles were only beginning. He was bandaged up, which was fine and dandy but he discovered he was still in restraints but these were cloth. In fact his feet were still in binds hidden from his father and Orihime under the heavy white blanket.

The clinic catered to the non-human variety, those like him and many others. Given that he was a tiger they feared him and for good reason. They didn't want him to just run loose and given that he just woken from a pretty bad ordeal, his mind was still racing. He woke up in flight or fight mode. He didn't know where he was or anything. It was just as well that he had been strapped down when he was first brought in. He was liable to really hurt those that were there to help him.

Once he had calmed down, which took a good while, he started to realize he was in a medical clinic. He knew then he was pretty much safe for the most part. That was when he was first introduced to Dr. Unohana and her medical staff. They made it rather clear, however, that they had a low tolerance for him. They would aid him on the condition that he would now follow their laws and stop hunting out in the streets. They understood his nature to hunt but told him the more he gave into that nature the more he'd continue and sooner or later he would get caught by the wrong people.

He, however, did learn the real reason he was attacked. It was two reasons in fact. One reason of course was because the local were-population was growing tired of him and the jaguar. Second reason was indeed a misunderstanding. It seemed that the black hairball from last night goofed when retelling her story to the others. She was so worked up and excited that she exaggerated a bit too much. Instead of saying that Ichigo had gently pushing her out his way, she said he knocked her back. When he held her down with his mouth to make point to leave him be she also made it worse than it was just from her excitement. In no way did he mean harm and she knew that but she didn't use the right wording to the others. So they took it upon themselves to get what they thought was retribution for her getting handled so "roughly."

He also learned something else that was rather harmful to him. That night—when he and the tiger merged it hadn't gone as planned. Dr. Unohana explained his mistake and what it would mean for him in the long run. She explained that Transcending was the act of a were-animal taking on a human form. There are only two ways to achieve it. One was called Shifting. It is where a were-animal consumes something human whether it be flesh or blood. They can do this over and over again to humans ultimately making themselves whoever they wish to be. They can have the eyes of one human and the skin tone of another.

Then there was what he tried to do and failed at. He tried to do Amalgamation. Amalgamation was the act of the were-animal taking over the body of a recently deceased human and basically live as that one human. They usually break ties with the human's family and friends to avoid getting caught. They use that person's identity and memories to live as a human. However, Ichigo wasn't dead just unconscious when the tiger Transcended. That was the problem and usually happened to were-animals that had no prior knowledge and usually perform Transcending on instinct.

When Amalgamation is performed wrong it is called Deterioration and never ends well for the were-animal. Deterioration merges the two in such away their minds perceive themselves as one so they never break the ties they need to because they still see themselves as human. However, it takes time for the new mind to settle right after Transcending and that is called Inhibition. Ichigo did confirm he went through Inhibition for about a month before his mind became "normal" again. However, that was the least of his worries.

Deterioration has one really nasty side-effect and can take up to six months to a year to show and is call that for a big reason. Deterioration merges two living beings together and sooner or later the animal side will begin to appear physically, distorting the human form. In a sense deteriorating it. This is what's known as Downfall and sooner to later Ichigo was going to experience it. He was told that it was painful physically and emotionally. Downfall came in various degrees of severity. Some case were as simple as hair and eyes changing colors to others being so distorted that the line between human and animal no longer exists. It had even been known to drive the person insane if the Downfall was bad enough.

It was a fate Ichigo was going to face rather soon and he didn't know how to go about hiding when it started. Not to mention how would he explain it to his family and Orihime? He couldn't tell her what he was. He didn't have the courage to say anything to her and she had no idea she was in a relationship with a tiger. The girl had a large soft heart but even the softest hearts can grow hard when tempered with bitter and ugly truth.

He had a lot more to be sorry for than just making them worry about where he was all damn day. He now understood that he couldn't keep hiding and lying to them as he had been. Soon or later his secret was going to slip out and what would happen then? He feared the outcome of their rejection. He feared it deep within his heart and just thinking about it hurt. He thought about cutting ties with them but he knew he didn't have the strength to do that again. He did it once with his father and the end result wasn't pleasant. He couldn't do it again. He just couldn't. He'd have to figure something else out maybe ease them into it somehow. But that was still farther down the line than what was going on right now.

"I… I'm sorry, okay? I really am," Ichigo sighed, crossing his arms over his stomach. "I really was embarrassed to tell you what happened. I hadn't been beaten up like that before so… You know it was a little awkward for me."

"I still don't see what was to be embarrassed about. Unless they touched you in a particular way," Isshin inquired. "

"OH, HELL NO! No, nothing like that happened," Ichigo quickly exclaimed, waving his arms, panicked. "It was just my pride like you said!"

"Fine," Isshin said flatly, dragging the chair over to sit down. "It was _your_ pride."

Ichigo knew his father wasn't buying any of this. Isshin wasn't as clueless as he let on most of the time. Ichigo knew that all too well. And when his father was angry, which he was now, he let be known that he was onto a good lie. He was being somewhat being subtle about this, most likely because Orihime was in the room. Speaking of which, how much was Orihime buying into this? She was a lot more gullible but even so she could sometimes sniff out a pretty good fib from time to time. She however, had a habit of letting them ride while his father did not. He got away with a lot when it came to Orihime but not so much with his father.

"Ichigo, is something wrong?" Orihime asked, worry lacing her voice.

"No. Honestly, _nothing's_ wrong. Look, the police will handle it. I'm here and I'm fine. I'm just a little black and blue."

"A little? If you were really fine you wouldn't be black and blue at all. I'll have charges pressed against them," Isshin drawled.

"You don't have to do that!" Ichigo said quickly.

"You were attacked, Ichigo! Why not?" Orihime asked, her face twisting in confusion. "They could easily do again to someone else. It's needs to stop right now."

"Did they threaten to get back at you?" Isshin asked. "Are you scared they may act on it?"

"Well, no… I mean… I-I don't know what I mean… Can we talk about this when I'm _not_ high on pain meds?" Ichigo muttered, turning his gaze down. "I'm not thinking too clearly right now…"

"I can see that," Isshin said, leaning back in his chair. "How about this… We'll let you get some sleep and you get your head cleared. I'll come, pick you up, and take you home in the morning. Orihime has work. I'll take the day off to look after you until she gets home."

"You don't have to do that. You can drop me off at the apartment. I'm not like I was after the mauling," Ichigo insisted.

"I'd rather you weren't alone. If the attack happened close the apartment they may be out looking for you or something," Orihime spoke up. "I would feel safer if your father stayed with you. Please, Ichigo! Please!"

Dammit. He looked at that pitiful face of hers. Her lips were in a bit of a pout and her ash blue eyes looked so pleading. He couldn't say no to that sad face. He really couldn't. He shut his deep brown eyes and let out a long sigh. He caved in once again.

"Fine, fine… If it will really make you feel better Dad can stay until you get off work tomorrow."

"Thank you," she smiled, standing and kissed him on the cheek.

"I'll be here around mid-morning," Isshin said, standing up as well. "I'll have a bag for you with clean clothes."

"Thank you," Ichigo said, following his father across room with his eyes.

"See you tomorrow afternoon. I'll let your job know what happened to you. Good night, Ichigo, love you," Orihime said, waving good bye as she stepped out the door.

"Love you too," he half waved back. "Be safe."

"Don't think we're not going to have a chat tomorrow, Ichigo," Isshin drawled, standing in the doorway.

"I know we are, trust me I know," Ichigo grumbled as his dad stepped out into the hall and vanished from sight.

He ran his hands over his scratched and bruised face. He knew his dad was angry, practically livid in fact. He made his father and fiancée worry and then he lied to them on top of that. His dad knew but Ichigo couldn't say anything. Especially, here in this small clinic. It was even smaller than his father's. He put his hands back down on his stomach and moved his ankles, feeling his binds pull on his skin.

"Dammit… I'm not looking forward to this 'chat' tomorrow…" he whispered, clinching his covers. _He knows I lied to him and to Orihime. He's not going to let this go. Not by a long shot._

* * *

Morning dawned and Isshin arrived around 9:30. He had a small bag in his hands with a set of clean clothes tucked inside. Ichigo was up of course with the nurse leaving his room, having just redressed his wounds. Isshin walked in right after, handing Ichigo the small cloth bag. Ichigo changed out his hospital gown and into the clothes his father had provided him. Ichigo was careful with his neck as changed his clothes.

Isshin took notice that some of the bruising and scratching from yesterday had already started to fade. How was that even possible? Isshin still couldn't wrap his mind around that. Once Ichigo was dressed he put the brace back on and sat back down on the bed. Isshin was already sitting in a chair by then. Ichigo drew in a sharp breath through his nose and then let it back out.

"So… You are going to lecture me now or at the apartment?"

"I'd prefer at the apartment. You know we both can get rather loud."

"Eh… True enough." Ichigo shrugged.

 **Knock! Knock!**

They both turned their heads to see Dr. Unohana entered the small room. She smiled at them as she walked up to the bed.

"Well, look at you, up and already dressed. Something tells me you're ready to get out of here," she laughed, holding some papers in her hands. "Well, everything checks out just fine. Of course you know you'll be sore for a few days of course, be mindful of your neck, and keep an eye on your abrasions. I just need a few signatures and once that's done you're free to leave. There are also some papers on concussions you might want to look over. You need to take it easy for a week as much as I know you're going to hate that."

Ichigo groaned taking the small stack of papers from her and she pulled out a pen from her pocket. He signed and dated where he needed and handed them back. She looked them over briefly and nodded finding everything as it should be.

"Okay, that's it. You're good to go," she said, looking back up at Ichigo and his father. "Have any questions feel free to call."

"Yes, thank you," Ichigo said, standing up carefully. "Ready?"

"Yes," Isshin said also standing, grabbing Ichigo's hospital bag with his old clothes in it. "Thank you for looking after him, Dr. Unohana."

"It was no problem. I hope you get things settled soon," she grinned, stepping to the side. "And I hope you get to feeling better."

Isshin walked out of the room first with Ichigo following a ways behind just a little bit unsteady on his feet. He was happy to finally be getting out of the clinic but at the same time he knew he'd soon have to talk to his dad. All things considered his father had been very patient with him. Perhaps, maybe even a little too patient. He knew it was coming sooner to later. Things had been pretty will balanced lately but all this tipped the scales. The fact that he was attacked then turned around and lied about why he was attacked really raised some red flags with his father.

They walked out of the building not talking or even exchanging glances, not even once. Isshin guided the way to car and got in. Ichigo followed, getting in the passenger's seat and shut the door. He buckled his seatbelt as he watched his dad start the car. No doubt he wasn't going to say too much until they got to the apartment. Isshin needed to keep his attention on the road and he couldn't do that if they started a full-blown argument.

"You hungry?" Isshin asked, pulling out of the parking lot and into the street.

"Uh… Yeah, some," Ichigo replied, looking out the window.

"Want to stop and get something?"

"Like where?"

"Don't know. Thought you'd like to pick."

"I don't care."

"Part of your problem…"

"Don't start that now," Ichigo turned to glare at him.

"Okay. Where do you want to eat?"

"I don't know. You pick, you're driving."

"And you're the one fresh out of the hospital so you pick."

Ichigo just turned to look back out the window as city's the buildings and its people dashed by him. This really was bad. They couldn't even agree on a place to eat. At this point Ichigo feared they would never really agree on anything. He closed his eyes and blocked out the morning sunlight. It was giving him a headache.

"Look… Do you just want to just go home?" Isshin spoke up.

Ichigo opened eyes and turned to look at his dad again.

"I… Don't know…" Ichigo mumbled just over a whisper.

"Are you that uncomfortable to be around me?"

"I…"

"You don't know? I'll just take you home."

"No… I…"

Isshin let out a loud huff as he came to a stop at a traffic light. He turned briefly to look at Ichigo. He had his eyes glued to the dark gray dashboard. His son couldn't even turn to look at him. He shook his head and turned his attention back to the traffic light.

"How about this? We just grab something at the next fast-food joint we see and get you home. Just be done with it."

"Fine…"

Isshin drew in another sharp breath, waiting for the light to change. Ichigo looked back out at the lightly tinted window. People walked by on the sidewalks, going about their daily lives. Ichigo wondered how many were real humans like his father or how many are were-animals like him. It was odd that he still considered Isshin his dad but he was his dad. It was weird really. He knew he was a tiger but he identified as human. He didn't even like to hear the words werecat or bakeneko or whatever. The car gave a slight jerk as it started to move again along the street.

Isshin found a small fast-food place and pulled in. He went through the drive thru and ordered. He then pulled around and picked up the order. Ichigo hadn't said much other than what he wanted to eat. They were on the east side of town and it would take a little while to get back to the apartment.

Ichigo continued to stare out the window when he noticed a familiar structure off in the distance with cars filling the large newly paved parking lot. It was the new zoo of all things. He snorted a bit as they drove by. Well, he honestly hadn't expected to see that place again. But _he_ hadn't seen it before. The _tiger_ had. But yet he was _still_ the tiger. Once again it became weird. Was he the tiger or Ichigo? He ran a hand down his damaged face, feeling every little rough scab and swollen area. Clearly that gang saw him as the tiger but how did he truly see himself? He wanted to identify and had been identifying as Kurosaki Ichigo but could he truly do that? He also knew that he referred to himself as the tiger as well at times so what was he?

After a bit of a drive Ichigo and his father arrived back at the small apartment building. Isshin parked the car and got out first. Ichigo followed next and shut his door. Isshin fiddled with Ichigo's keys and opened the door. Ichigo stumbled in after his father, shutting and locking the door behind him. Now that they here and inside the apartment what was going to happen now? Now doubt the argument that he had been dreading was about to begin. Hopefully it wouldn't be anything too bad or maybe that was just wishful thinking.

Isshin walked over to the couch and set the food bag next to him. Ichigo took the farthest cushion from his father, leaving the bag of food with its own seat smackdab tween them. They still didn't say anything as Isshin separated out the food. He handed Ichigo his meal and grabbed his own. He unwrapped his food and glanced over at Ichigo. His son just had his food sitting in his lap, unopened.

"You're not going to eat after all?"

Ichigo hastily picked up the food item and opened it roughly.

"Hey, hey! Don't! Stop that!"

Ichigo tossed it back to his side onto the empty cushion. Isshin looked at the discarded food, half opened. He wrapped his food back up and placed it on the armrest of the grey sofa. He was no longer hungry. What was Ichigo's problem all of a sudden he was acting worse than before. Was it because he was anticipating an argument? In honestly Isshin knew it was coming too. He wanted to know why Ichigo was attacked and why he lied about it. Ichigo wasn't just going to come out a say it. The boy was too stubborn for that.

"You want to just get this over with?" Isshin asked and Ichigo nodded the best he could in the neck brace. "Okay… Since you want to just get this out of way so badly, why did you feel the need to lie to Inoue and myself last night?"

Isshin watched as Ichigo gave him a sideways glance. Isshin cross his arms over is chest as Ichigo turned away again.

"It was a personal issue."

"Care to share said 'personal issue?'"

"No."

"I didn't think so. Did you instigate that attack?"

"No. That much was true."

"Well, the attack seemed a little personal, don't you think? Like they had a grudge against you. Can you explain that much?"

"I didn't know them from a hole in the ground. All I know was that I said something to somebody, they retold it a different way, and then that happened."

Ichigo was just summing things up, leaving out any real detail. Isshin set his jaw some and adjusted himself a bit more on the couch.

"Did this someone have a vendetta against you?"

"No, it was a misunderstanding."

"And this misunderstanding got you kidnapped and beaten? Sounds like a pretty damn big misunderstanding."

"Well, that's what it was! That' all it was," Ichigo snapped getting to his feet in a haste.

"Okay! Okay! Calm down," Isshin replied. "Sit back down. I'd like to do this calmly considering your concussion."

"I'd rather not being doing this at all!"

"I know you don't but I need to know. Please sit back down."

Ichigo hesitated for a moment before plopping his butt back onto the soft sofa. He looked away from his father in a huff. Isshin unfolded his arms and rubbed the inner corners of his eyes with his right hand.

"Okay so it was a misunderstanding. That's not hitting on much but I'll take it—for now. However, why didn't you call, have the police call, or the clinic call us? And don't tell me you were embarrassed because you got your ass kicked."

"That was part of the personal issue."

"Ah… Okay. Ichigo, let me tell you something you may have over looked."

"That being…?"

"Most people see doctors, like myself, as someone that just heals people. We tell the patient what's wrong with them whether it's something as benign as a pulled muscle or something serious like cancer. But they don't think too much of the other side of our job. Sometimes we have to do actual detective work on crimes. Like why did this person get stabbed, how did this person get bitten by a dog, or why does this child have so many broken bones? Doctors don't just heal we help pick up the slack sometimes for criminal cases. I've done it more times than I can count. Do you see where I'm going with this?"

"Yes."

"I just want the truth. I'd just like for you tell me what really happened. You've been keeping a lot from me. I just haven't said anything but I know something is wrong and I've noticed it well before this gang attack. I know I lost track of you for 3 years but even still there is just something odd about you I can't quite put my finger on."

Ichigo's whole body stiffed and his eyes widened. He slowly turned to face his father again. Amidst the anger and annoyance on his father's face there was real worry and confusion mixed in. Was there a big enough of change with him that even after having no contacted with his father for years that he knew something was different? His heart felt like it was in a vice grip and worry with touch of panic set in. His father noticed a change in him. No _the_ change in him. Did Orihime notice it too?

"I-I can't tell you. I just can't. You... You wouldn't understand."

"How do you know you won't tell me anything? Listen, Ichigo for 3 years I lost contact with you. Three year with you I'm not getting back. So yes, I'm going to nosey about a lot of things about you. I'm really worried about you. Ever since your return into my life you haven't been the same. You really haven't."

"A lot can happen in three years and people change sometimes. It shouldn't be that _big_ of a surprise that I'm not the same person I was before I left. I lived on the streets for 2 solid years for crying out loud. I'm going to change in some ways."

"No—it's something else," Isshin shook his head and Ichigo's tension started to build even more. "I never expected you to be the exact same when I saw you again. That would be stupid to assume that but there is something about you that just seems like…"

"L-like what? Tell me." Ichigo's mouth felt a little dry.

"Well, you just seem… Huh, now don't take this the wrong way but you…" Isshin was hesitating some and it was just eating at Ichigo's insides. "You really don't seem to be same person I should know. I've known you since the day were born and I watched you grow up day after day. When I look at you now… I mean _really_ look at you, I don't see Ichigo. I don't see my son in your eyes. I feel like I'm looking at and talk to someone other than who I should be. I don't like that and frankly you scare me sometimes. Even looking at you right it doesn't really feel like I'm talking to…"

Isshin stopped talking and dropped his gaze, turning it towards the floor. Honestly, he didn't understand why that was. He knew that was his son it looked and sounded every bit like Ichigo but at the same time it felt like an imposter sitting beside him. Some sort of clone or doppelganger that took over his son's life and did a near perfect impersonation. _Near_ perfect. There were tiny holes and Isshin could see them. He had no idea if Orihime saw them. She hadn't known him for that long so chances were very low of her seeing the same minuscule holes. He heard Ichigo draw in a shaky breath and slowly let it back out.

"Wh-what are you saying? I-I'm _not_ your s-son?" Ichigo choked out, putting a hand over his rapidly pounding heart.

"I'm not saying that. I just… Damn. I don't know but you won't tell me anything that's wrong with you. You just keep telling me it's a 'personal issue.' You say I won't understand but you won't tell me anything about it. You're hiding something and I think you're physically hiding as well to a certain degree. I don't know how to explain any of this to you. I don't know how to convey what I'm seeing and feeling from you. I know you're my son but then there just something that's contradicting that. Like mimicry or camouflage… You're him but you're not him at the same time…"

Ichigo knew what he was getting at. He was everything Isshin had just said. His own eyes quickly fell to the floor as well. He was Ichigo but he wasn't Ichigo. He was a tiger but he wasn't a tiger. He bit his lips and knitted his hands together, setting them in his lap. He could show his father the tiger but the thought of rejection and ridicule felt like a 1,000 tons crushing down on his heart. He just couldn't do that. He couldn't even show Orihime. How could he think of showing his other side to his father?

He had time still until the Downfall set it. Maybe he could figure out something by then but he was running out of time so he had better start planning now. Silence filled the large room as neither of them looked at each other or made a sound. Isshin said what he wanted to get his own pains off his chest but Ichigo couldn't do the same. He wished he could but there was no way he could. People were cruel, even loved ones were cruel and they were usually the cruelest of them all. He squeezed his hands tighter together.

Should he bite the bullet and see if his father rejected him? No doubt he'd turn around and tell Orihime his secret. So maybe not. Something like this wasn't easy to keep to oneself. It was a large secret and the larger the secret the harder it is to keep it all in. No, he couldn't. He just couldn't let his father see the tiger hidden within. It would only confirm his suspicions but then again it could put his old man at ease. Would it be worth it though? He wouldn't show him the full tiger just enough to show him that he was indeed different but…

He didn't know what to do. He could show his father now and either accept the rejection or see if his father could accept it. Maybe he could wait until he started Downfall. The traits would show without him having to force out the tiger. Then again the longer he waited it could cause more problems. Maybe it would be good to have one person on his side. He wanted someone to talk to but then again was his dad the right choice? He was human after all and not a bakeneko and he would not understand too much. There were just too many variables to try and sort out. Did the pros outweigh the cons? He didn't know. He could show his father right now or just keep it hidden like he had been.

"I suppose… We'll just drop this for now," Isshin spoke in a low tone. "No point in dragging out this awkward conversation. It's dead anyway."

His dad was willing to just let it go for now and maybe it was for the best. Then again this might be his best chance to show him or this could be a horrible idea either way he looked at it. Right now he could keep his secret for a little longer or just show him the truth. What should he do?

(A/N Yes, what should he do? I'm giving you a chance to answer that for me. Yes or no? Should Ichigo bite the bullet or wait a while longer? I'm letting you all decided on what should happen. Let me now in the reviews. I'll tally them up and go from there. Thank you.)

Millie M. Banshee


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